The Variable
by AhsokaTano8
Summary: The Gladers have just gotten used to the pattern that was taking place. Supplies come up once a week, a new Greenie, always a boy, comes up every four weeks. What happens when the Box comes up with a Greenie, also a girl, two weeks early?
1. Arrival

A/N- This is Kat! I was planning on writing the whole book out before posting it but I decided I would post the first half now and the second half a bit later. The movie and the book have the origins of the Glade starting out differently, this story follows the book more. I'm open to constructive criticism, whether it be plot holes or improper uses of grammar. This story will go all the way through The Death Cure and I will probably do something for The Fever Code when it comes out.

 **{Week 1, Day 1}**

Everything was cold. The harsh metal digging into my skin, surrounding me on all sides.

CREAK!

A system of pulleys start working and the metal elevator starts making its way up, slowly but steadily. Where the hell am I?

I... Who cares about where I am, who am I? I don't know what my name is, how old I am, what I look like. But nothing makes sense, I know things, but I don't. I know what snow on trees look like, the moon casting a shadow over the land, swimming in a lake, and other normal things. But I don't know my own name.

"Is there anyone here?" I call out, a scratchy voice greeting me as if I haven't eaten or had anything to drink in days. I wait quietly for a response, but am not greeted by anything, only the creaking made by the elevator as it continues to ascend.

I attempt to stand up, but the slightest movement sends pain rippling up my body. I feel at my side, one of the two places where the pain was the most intense, and when I pulled my hand away, it was covered in blood. I didn't need to feel the pain in my leg, one look at it and I almost threw up whatever my last meal was. A piece of bone was sticking out of my cargo pants, a piece of my shin.

WCKD

It's inscribed on every box and crate inside this elevator. I pull the closest crate towards me and break it open. Inside are 2 small tubes filled with blue liquid, the side of each tube is inscribed with the those 4 little letters.

WCKD

I pull another crate over, this one much heavier and it makes clanking noises, hopefully is in there that can serve as a weapon.

With a groan, the elevator halted, sending crates sliding everywhere, one of them falling on my injured leg, causing me to scream out in pain.

Crank!

I glance up at the ceiling to see it parting, causing me to back up as far as possible into the corner. Briefly seeing sunlight streaming in before shadows of boys cover most of the elevator.

"Where's he?" I hear whispers come from above me, the tarp covering my view.

"Anyone spot him?" I hear another voice say. Should I go out? Maybe they can help me. "Newt, go find the shank."

Clunk!

Shank? What's that supposed to mean?

"Alright, Greenie. Come on out, no one's gonna hurt ya," I hear a boy say, his voice thick with an odd accent that I recognize slightly... a British accent. He slowly makes his way around the elevator turning around right in front of me. "Oh..."

"What's going on, Newt?" I hear shouts as this boy, his hair a jumbled mess of blonde, his hazel-green eyes wide as he just stares at me.

"It's a girl," the boy says as he glances upward and next thing I know, I can hear the thumps of a few more people dropping into the elevator.

"What's she look like?"

"You think she'll go for me?"

"She hot?"

"Dude! You look like a piece of klunk!"

"You look like a piece of klunk!"

"Slim it!" I hear one of the new guys shout up there and immediately everyone quiets down. Must be shut the hell up.

"We're not gonna hurt ya," one of the boys, a dark-skinned muscular one, kneels down to look me in the eye.

"Bring her out already, Alby!" I hear shouts from the boys up top and I try shrinking even further into the corner.

"Slim it, Carl!" I hear the original guy with the accent call up as he cringes. "Look. Those shanks are a bunch of slintheads. We don't mean ya any harm."

I don't respond, only look between the few boys in front of me.

"She probably can't understand ya through the accent, Newt," one of the boys, not the dark-skinned one or the one with an accent, says as my eyes dart to him.

"Listen, we mean you no harm," the other guy says as the original one, the guy with the accent, moves forward. I don't think, I only send my fist flying into his face, hearing a satisfying crunch and a thump as he falls backwards. There's many shouts as another person jumps down, but with all the commotion, I'm able to find a knife closes by and hold it in front of me.

"Hey!" one of the boys shouts as he pushes everyone back. "We know you're probably confused! But we mean you no harm!"

"Then leave me the fuck alone!" I state firmly, my voice barely above a whisper. They all stare at me in shock and I realize that I haven't spoken to them yet. The boys all look at each other, looking like they're completely unsure of what to do.

"Come on, Nick."

"Well..." the boys look between each other. "I guess we'll leave."

"You're welcome to come out whenever... I guess."

Slowly, one by one, they make their way out of the elevator. The last thing that sticks in my mind is the kid that I punched holding his nose that has blood dripping out of it.

I tune out everything the boys say as they take one last look at me before climbing up outta the elevator. Great plan. Now I'm stuck here.


	2. Stuck

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters (except for Kat,) and all rights go to James Dashner.

Well. This sucks. I can't move and I need medical attention. Which I don't even know if that's here. I don't even know where here is. It's been hours since the boys left and all that's come back to me is my name, Kat. Must be a nickname for something because who seriously names their kid 'Kat?' Though some of the names I heard being shouted were kinda strange. So it must be normal to have strange names.

I hear soft crunches above me, one of the boys must be coming. I grab the knife and keep it close, but I don't ward him off.

"Figured you'd be hungry," I hear a heavily accented voice say and I cringe. One glance and I see a slightly crooked nose. Great.

"Nope," I say hostilely as I hold up a bag of beef jerky that I found.

"That can't be enough," the boy says as he puts a plate of food in front of me, the smells making my stomach growl. "See?"

"Fine," I take the plate out of his hand and shove a piece of the meat in my mouth before looking at it in astonishment.

"Good?" I hear the boy laugh and I just scowl.

"It's fine," I mutter and don't look up.

"Don't let Frypan hear you say that," I hear the kid say and any doubts about my name fade. Frypan? "Ya gonna speak more than two syllables at a time, she-bean?"

"Maybe," I say as I quickly finish the plate of food, putting it down on the ground beside me, before once again looking at the boy. Even with the broken nose, he looks really good. His hair is messy, like it won't ever sit flat, but it's a cute messy. Whoa! You just met the guy and you've already broken his nose.

"You know ya have to leave the Box eventually, right?" I hear him ask, breaking me out of my inappropriate thoughts. I just glare at the wall and he sighs. "That Box has to go down in order to bring up more supplies."

"What are you talking about?" I demand, my eyes snapping to meet his.

"Finally! A proper sentence," the boy just grins and I turn away again. "Every week, the Box brings up supplies. We take them out and it goes back down. Doesn't go back down with anyone in it."

"Who sends the supplies?" I ask and he just sighs.

"If you'd come out everything would make more sense," he says and I shake my head adamantly. "Look. You haven't shifted an inch since I saw you last. Meaning ya probably haven't moved at all. Give your legs a stretch."

"Maybe I just find this comfy," I shrug as he moves forward to help me up and I hold the knife out.

"Whoa! Don't be a slinthead," I shake my head at the strange words. "We need to get these supplies out of here."

"Then take the supplies," I wave my arm to other boxes and crates in the elevator. "There's nothing stopping you."

"Yeah, ya kinda scared the klunk out of the other boys. Don't know if you noticed, but you did quite the number on my nose," the boy says with a slight glare.

"Don't worry. I'll sit in this corner like a good little girl and won't move," I assure him sardonically and he just shakes his head.

"You're one stubborn shank," he mutters as picks up a crate and puts it up top. Slowly he works his way around the elevator, glancing at me every once in a while. "You remember you're name yet?"

I don't respond, instead I turn and look at the wall right outside the elevator. Memorizing the words up on the side.

World. Catastrophe. Killzone. Department.

WCKD

"Well, I'm Newt," the boy says and I glance at him, debating whether or not to say my name and I end up just not speaking. "Good talk. Let's do it again sometime."

Soon, only the two crates closest to me are left. He picks one up and moves it up top like he's done with all the rest, but as he goes to grab the last one, his hand darts out and knocks the knife out of my hand, kicking the box away in the process. Now I have no weapon, no cover, and I'm immobile. Newt just tosses the knife up top, avoids the plate that I throw at him, and holds his hands up briefly.

"Still want to be a shuck-face?"

"What's with all the different words?" I ask in an effort to switch the topic.

"You'll find out when you stand up," I hear him offer as he holds a hand out. I just look away and he sighs. "Come on! What do I have to do to get ya to shucking move?"

When I don't respond, he goes to pick me up and I whack him the nose again, sending him stumbling backwards.

"Shuck! What was that for, ya bloody shank?" Newt demands between curse words.

"Look, I'm sorry," I say and he just looks at me in surprise. "Just don't try to move me."

"Why?" Newt asks, his voice full of confusion.

"I..." I say hesitantly before looking away. "I can't."

"And why not?"

"I can't move," I correct and his eyes just widen. I lean forward despite the pain in my abdomen and remove the blanket I had covering my left leg, the white bone glaringly obvious.

"Shuck," I hear him say as he drops to my side and takes a closer look. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"In front of all the boys talking about me like a piece of meat?" I ask with an eyebrow raised, Newt just nods knowingly. "No thanks."

"We would've protected you. I'm gonna go get our Med-jack," Newt mutters and I stop him, my eyes must be wide because he clarifies immediately. "Our doctor."

"I..." I stop, not knowing what to say. Newt just stands up and pulls himself up out of the elevator.

"Don't go anywhere," Newt says with a smirk and I allow a small laugh to escape, his smile growing wider. "I'll be back."

As promised, Newt returns a few minutes later with one of the boys from earlier.

"Hey, you didn't run away," Newt remarks with a grin and I roll my eyes, not stopping the smile from covering my face.

"Funny," I say with a slight laugh as the two drop into the elevator.

"Alby and Clint are on their way," Newt says as the other boy just kneels done by my leg. He looks at me briefly.

"You done breaking noses?"

"No promises," I say and Newt just laughs, the boy by my leg just grins.

"You're not bad, she-bean," he mutters as he picks the blanket up. "Shuck!"

"Seriously, what does that mean?" I look at Newt, who just grins.

"Nope. The deal was I'd tell you everything we know when you stand up," Newt smirks as the other boy just shakes his head.

"It's a mixture between shit and fuck," the boy laughs as he covers my leg back up. "Newt actually came up with it. Went to say shit but changed halfway through to fuck. Kinda stuck after that."

"Yeah, after you shuck-faces laughed at me for days," Newt fake glares at the other boy, who just raises his hands up in defeat before turning to me.

"I forgot, I'm Nick," Nick holds his hand out and I hesitantly shake it.

"Nice to meet you."

Thunk! Thunk!

Two kids drop down, once again two who were in here earlier. The dark-skinned one who dropped down with Nick not too long after Newt and the one who attended to Newt's nose after the first punch.

"Hey, there. I'm Clint," the doctor says as he hesitantly as he edges towards me.

"I don't bite too hard," I mention and he raises his eyebrow.

"You sure?" Clint points at Newt, who just shoves him lightly.

"Slim it, ya bloody slinthead," Newt says, but there's a grin on his face. Luckily, this calmed Clint down and he moved right beside me.

"I'm Alby," the dark-skinned boy calls out, his voice deep but soft, which is followed by a brief intake of breath by both him and Clint. "What the shuck?"

"How'd this happen?" Clint asks and before I can say anything, he shakes his head. "Sorry! Forgot. Memory problems."

"How'd you know that?" I ask and when the boys only loo. "Everyone is like this?"

"None of us have memories before this place," Nick says as I feel a pain spring up my leg, causing me to shriek in pain, closing my eyes and focusing on my breathing. Someone grabs my hand and I grip it like a lifeline.

"What's going on?" I hear a shout and next thing I know, whoever is gripping my hand is torn from my grasp.

"No! It's fine!" I shout as I open my eyes, to see a tall figure standing between myself and the boys, almost as if he was trying to protect me. "They're fine!"

I lean my head back up against the elevator wall and Newt quickly makes his way to my side, grabbing my hand.

"Can you not give her something for the pain?" Newt asks as Clint moves by my leg again.

"I'm not actually a doctor, Newt!" I hear him retort. "I'm used to bandaging cuts! Not performing shucking miracles!"

"What the shuck happened?" I hear the new guy ask, his eyes darting between my face and my shin.

"Don't know, Gally," Nick says as he stands beside him. "But this is why she was so uncooperative earlier."

"Sorry about that," I mention and they just shrug.

"You were scared," Nick says and Clint does something that sends pains up my leg once again.

"Do something, Clint!" Newt insists as I grip his hand.

"Like what?" Clint demands, looking around for suggestions.

"Anything!" Newt glares at him.

"You wanna do this, Newt?" Clint demands.

"Why not?"

"Be my guest!"

"Fine!"

"Slim it!" I shout, startling everyone, including myself, but it gets everyone to shut up.

"Impressive, she-bean, already cursing up a storm," I hear a new voice just before hearing him land in the elevator. "Holy shuck!"

"Smooth, Minho," Newt mumbles softly with a slight smile and Minho, this Asian kid, doesn't reply.

"Everyone heard the screams and should be here momentarily," Minho says as everyone looks up and not 15 seconds later, people are peering into the elevator.

"Alby, you help me deal with this. Gally, you and Minho get something to carry her on," Nick says as they hop out of the elevator. "Clint. We're moving her to the Homestead."

"Homestead?" I ask and Newt just squeezes my hand reassuringly.

"Where everyone sleeps," Newt says as he and Clint look awkwardly between each other. "Sorry, Clint."

"It's fine," Clint mutters as we hear yelling from above. Nick and Alby getting everyone to grab a box and move it to the Kitchens before heading back to bed. He'd give an update on me in the morning with breakfast.

Everyone soon disperses and not too long after that, the two latest boys... Minho and Gally, I think, show up with a stretcher made of wood and leather straps.

"Look, I know it's gonna hurt, but we need to move you on the stretcher and the easiest way to do that is to just do it quickly," Clint tells me as he lays the stretcher down right next to me.

"Okay," I mutter as he looks at the boys.

"Grab an arm," Clint says and the four boys grab ahold of me. "Do this quickly, on the count of three. One. Two. Three!"

-x-

When I come to conciseness, I find the boys in the middle of an argument. Clint is still by my leg, Alby standing above him, while Newt is by my head holding my hand again.

"You've reset bones before, Clint," Alby offers and Clint just looks at him in shock.

"Yeah. Once. And it wasn't easy," Clint says before pointing at my shin. "And this is slightly worse than that!"

"Really? We couldn't tell!" Newt says, his sarcasm making me give a slight laugh, letting them know I'm awake. "You're awake!"

"How observant of you," I mutter as I twist my head to look him in the eyes. "Hard to sleep with all the shouting."

"Here," Newt ignores my sarcasm and grabs a cup of water, helping me lift my head up and take a small drink.

"That didn't hurt," I mention and Clint just laughs.

"Well, I cleaned and bandaged up your abdomen. Would've been nice to know you'd been wounded there," Clint says with a pointed look at me and I just shrug, taking a glance at my left leg to see the white still sticking out. "I'm sorry. I have no idea what to do about your leg. It's beyond anything I've ever tried."

"Maybe this might help," Nick's voice calls out as he walks through the door, holding a phial of liquid. "You're awake!"

"Wow, you guys are so smart. No wonder you guys seem to be the leaders around here," I mention, Nick looking like he swallowed something foul, while Alby coughs, and Newt looks like he's trying not to laugh.

"I like this girl," I hear the Asian... Minho, call out.

"Yeah, she's not bad for a she-bean," Gally remarks and I glance back at Nick.

"Nick I don't know what that is," Clint looks at the phial with fear in his eyes.

"It said to be used in extreme situations. I think this qualifies as extreme," Nick argues back and Clint just sighs as he takes ahold of the liquid.

"I have no idea what this is going to do," Clint tells me and I just nod, it's the only thing we have. I'm willing to risk it.

With that, he slams the tube into my thigh and injects the liquid, my vision going black for the second time that evening.


	3. Party!

**{Week 1, Day 3}**

"Hey, I think she's waking," I hear someone say and I force my eyes open. I'm still in the room that I woke up in previously, right before Clint injected that mystery liquid into my thigh.

"What happened?" I ask as I try sitting up, but a pair of hands push me down gently.

"You've been out bloody days," I hear a familiar voice with a British accent say. "We had no idea when you'd wake up."

"If you'd wake up," I hear Clint's voice call out as my eyes eventually. "Go tell Nick and Alby. You should also go tell Minho that she-bean woke up right after he left."

"He's gonna hate it," Newt laughs, glancing at me. "Glad to see ya up."

With that, Newt walks out of the room and I'm left with Clint, who takes Newt's seat.

"How are you feeling?" Clint asks as he feels my forehead. "No fever."

"I feel fine," I say as I shift my weight, my leg moving without pain. "Better than fine, actually."

"Whatever they sent us was a miracle. I'm not sure what happened," Clint mentions as he puts his hand on my throat, checking my heart rate. "But it made you sick. Real sick. You've been unconscious for two days."

"Two days?" I demand and he just nods.

"I'm glad you woke up when you did. My shift was finished and I was about to head to bed," Clint says with a smile. "Newt was gonna take the night shift tonight

"Newt's a doctor?" I ask and Clint just laughs.

"No! He's far from it, that shank can't put a band-aid on properly to save his life," Clint says and I just frown.

"Then what is the night shift?" I ask and Clint looks slightly nervous.

"We had someone in here at all times," Clint says. "Someone we trusted. Didn't want anyone to... try something."

"I see," I say as I look at the wall briefly. "I take it that means there are no girls here?"

"Yeah... Well, you are in perfect health. If you can stand and move around, I see no reason to keep you here," Clint says as he offers me a hand and helps lift me up. "Shuck, you're light."

I don't say anything, but only cautiously put my weight on my leg. Whatever was in that phial was a miracle, I only feel slight discomfort in my entire body when I put weight on it.

"The potion went about healing the wound on your stomach as well as the small cuts and bruises on your back," Clint says and I turn to face him.

"Bruises?" I ask, where the hell did I come from that put me in this condition.

"They weren't small ones either. They were black and purple and swollen," Clint shrugs as I shiver slightly at the slight breeze through the window, feeling my bare shoulders and realizing I'm in a tank top. Clint grabs a flannel button shirt off of a chair and hands it to me. "Here, use this."

"Thanks," I mutter as I pull it on. "So am I free to go?"

"Yes," Clint says and I head to the door immediately, looking both ways. "Go left, head down the stairs, keep going straight and there's gonna be a door to the far left."

"Thanks," I mutter, giving him a brief smile before heading downstairs and walking through the rows of bunks until I reach the end wall, where I glance left and see a door. I head out and the first thing I see are the walls.

Stone walls going at least 75 meters in the air, covered in vines that don't quite go to the top, and surround me on all sides. In one corner, I see rows upon rows of crops and in another I see a barn tucked against the walls.

I slowly wander around, passing the occasional whispering boy. In another corner, slightly covered in trees is another building, much smaller than the barn and the Homestead though. I make my way inside and immediately notice the smell, almost like it's an abandoned copper mine. There's a table with a few chairs inside, all covered in dust. And lining the edge of the building are 8 trunks, again covered in dust. But the most curious thing, is the curtains drawn over a section of the wall.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I hear someone say behind me as I reach to pull them down.

"And why's that?" I ask, not moving away.

"There are things out there, horrible things," I hear and I turn around to see... Nick, I believe.

"Nick, right?" I ask and he just nods. "Well, Nick. Are you trying to tell me that there are big, bad monsters beyond this curtain?"

"Maybe not at this second, but yes. There are monsters out there," Nick says and I laugh slightly, just moving to pull the curtains away anyway. "Don't say I didn't warn ya."

I ignore his last comment, instead pulling the curtains down and look at a window. About 10 meters away from the window is another wall, exactly like the ones I saw surrounding this land. I move to edge and look down, seeing the hallway continue on for a little, occasionally another corridor connecting.

"What is it?" I ask as Nick just moves up to my side.

"It's a Maze," Nick says and I look at him confusedly.

"We're in the middle of a maze?" I ask. "Who the hell put us here? Why?"

"We don't know. I'm assuming it's the people who sent us and the supplies up, WCKD," Nick mentions but shrugs slightly. "But we don't know anything else."

I just stare out into this 'maze.' With all mazes, there a way in and a way out. We just have to find it.

"How large is it?" I ask and look at Nick, but he just shakes his head.

"We don't know," Nick says and I lose hope. "We haven't been exploring it."

"What? Why not?" I demand and he just glances at me.

"Follow me," Nick says and before I can say anything, he's leading me out of this small building and towards the woods. Eventually we make it to a small graveyard. "We call this the Deadheads."

There's two gravestones in these 'Deadheads.' One labeled George and the other labeled Felix. Nick goes and kneels down in front of the one labeled Felix.

"This was Felix. He thought the same thing you did. That the Maze was our way out," Nick says as he pushes the dirt off the two tombstones. "We had only gone out there for about twenty minutes at a time. Felix convinced me to let him go out for half the day. He never came back."

"I'm sorry for your loss. But there must be a reason that it is out there," I insist and he just glares at me.

"How many people do you want me to send to their deaths?" Nick demands.

"You don't know what killed them! You don't know it was the Maze!" I insist as Nick stands up.

"Yes, I do. It was a Griever."

"What's a Griever?" I demand.

"You sit by that window long enough and you'll see one," Nick says and I frown. "We hear them all the time at night. So I do know what killed Felix."

With that, Nick walks out of the Deadheads and leaves me standing in the darkness. Who knows how long I sit there but eventually the sun goes down and I'm still staring at Felix's gravestone. Despite everything I've heard, I still want to go out there. There's something about it that draws me out there. I will be going out there, with or without Nick's permission.

"Hey there, sweetheart," I hear a voice drawl out behind me and I turn to see a person I haven't seen yet. "What you doing out here?"

"Thinking," I answer cautiously as he slowly makes his way towards me.

"You shouldn't be out here alone..." I hear him say, his voice sounding slimier the closer he gets. "Who knows what could happen."

"Exactly what I was thinking. I should be getting back anyway," I mention, trying to act normal and not jumpy. But as I go to leave through the opposite side that the kid entered, he tries stopping me.

"Homestead is that way," the boy points behind him and I just shrug.

"I'll find my way there eventually. I like exploring," I say as I turn on my heel and walk straight away in the opposite direction, eventually leading me out to the barn.

At least the animals seem to be at peace. All they've ever known is being trapped, at least they're in a normal situation. I'm the only girl with no memories trapped inside a maze with deadly creatures who is going to be living with a bunch of boys. There's nothing normal about this.

"She-bean!" I here someone shout out from behind me and I turn around, knowing it has to be me they're talking about.

"Newt," I greet as the blonde accented kid runs up to me.

"I've been looking bloody everywhere for you. Hurry, we're gonna be late," Newt says as he waves for me to follow him before he takes off running, heading for the Homestead.

"Late for what?" I shout after him, but he doesn't stop. So I take off after him and head towards the house I left earlier, the Homestead.

"There she is!" I hear Nick shout as Newt and I come into sight of a huge bonfire, where about 30 boys are here, wandering around.

"What is this?" I ask Newt as Nick, Alby and a few others throw torches into the fire pit, sending flames flying up.

"Greenbean party, normally happens the first day but you were being a stubborn shank," Newt grins as I just whack him on the shoulder. "You enjoy hitting me, don't you?"

"She-bean!" I hear someone shout from behind me. I turn around and see the Asian kid, Minho.

"Minho, right?" I ask and he shakes his head 'no.' "Really? I would've sworn that you were called Minho."

"I'm called the sexiest shank to ever live, but I can see how you got us mixed up," Minho says with a grin and I can't help but laugh.

"Greenie!" I hear another shout and Alby appears in front of me, his smile big and his breath smelling of alcohol. "Tradition is you get the first fight!"

"First fight?" I ask and he just puts an arm around me and drags me towards the center of a ring.

"Gally's the best!" Alby says excitedly as he puts me on the opposite side of a tall boy, the one who thought I was being... when Clint first tried resetting my leg. "Nobody can consistently beat him!"

"Rules, don't get pushed out of the ring. Stay down for 5 seconds, you lose," Nick calls out as he stands on a box on the side, everyone else forming a wall around the arena. "On my mark!"

"That's it?" I ask with a laugh and a few people in the crowd laugh.

"Don't worry, she-bean. I'll go easy on you," Gally says with a smirk, which I just smile in response to.

"I meant is dirty fighting is allowed?" I ask and everyone quiets down, muttering amongst themselves.

"Well, I guess so... I mean, why not?" Nick says hesitantly as he takes a drink from a glass jar. "On my mark, get set... Go!"

Gally doesn't rush me, my comment about dirt fighting seemed to have the desired effect. He's hesitating. No one has seen me do anything. They only know that I kept my shit together with a bone sticking out my leg and who knows what I was doing to cause that, and I broke Newt's nose in the process.

Eventually though, Gally gets close enough to throw a punch, which I easily sidestep and send a fist flying into his side, causing him to grunt in pain.

"I forgot to mention that she has a helluva punch," Newt's voice calls out and the boys just laugh while Gally grits his teeth. Turning on his heel quickly and rushing me like a bull. Unfortunately he gets to me, but his momentum sends him falling over me. My body is small enough to get my legs between myself and him, and as my back hits the ground, I use the momentum and kick up, sending Gally flying over my head as I scramble up to my feet.

The boys are laughing and pointing at Gally much more now. I mean, he's getting his ass handed to him by a girl, a tiny girl. As Gally slowly stands up, moving at me slowly, making sure he doesn't make a mistake again, I pretend to tremble under his glare and 'fall' down to the ground. I slowly side backwards as Gally gets close, grabbing a handful of sand and once he's close enough, I send it flying into his face and while he's busy crying out in my pain while clutching his eyes, I swipe my legs out and take out his legs, sending him flying on his back.

"1."

"2."

Gally still hasn't gotten up, he's shifting around and groaning.

"3."

"4."

But still no attempt to even try standing up.

"5!"

"And the she-bean is the winner!" Nick shouts as I head over to Gally and help him up, surprised to see a smile on his face.

"Not bad, for a she-bean," Gally says as I glance in his eyes and see them bloodshot from the sand.

"Sorry about that," I wave my hand in front of my eyes.

"No, you're not," Gally laughs and I can't help but join him.

"You're right, I'm not," I laugh with Gally as Nick comes over and holds my hand up.

"I want a rematch some day soon, and I won't fall for your trickery again, she-bean," Gally 'glares' at me as he heads over to the side and takes a drink from his glass.

"Not bad, she-bean," Newt and Minho come over to me, both with a glass in their hands.

"I'd hate to run across you in a dark alley," Minho grins as he takes a drink from his bottle.

"I seriously thought you had fallen," Newt sways as he points down to where my back was imprinted on the sand, his voice getting higher and higher. "I was like, she was doing so good!"

"What is in these drinks? Everyone seems drunk," I take Newt's glass from him and take a swig, forcing myself not to spit it out. "Moonshine?"

Everyone around was laughing and I have to admit, it was kinda fun. It goes on for about another hour. I stay close to Newt and Minho most of the time. Occasionally I end up with Gally, Alby, or Clint. But I eventually ended up on the edge of the party and catch sight of the tall, dark walls off in the distance.

"You can go," Nick says and I turn around to find him, seeing him staring out at the middle of the wall.

"What made you change your mind?" I ask as we take a seat on a log and overlook the farms and buildings.

"It was a test. There was no tradition about the first fight, but I have a feeling that it might stick after what we just saw," Nick admits as I laugh slightly, feeling pride at having impressed a group of boys with my fighting skills. "How'd you know what to do?"

"I didn't," I admit and he just looks at me doubtfully. "I just did what felt natural."

"Beating the klunk out of Gally felt natural? You are one twisted shank," Nick laughs as he takes another drink. "Gather what you need from the storage tonight. You leave first thing in the morning. Maze opens at 0700. They close at 1900. But I would prefer it if you came back a few hours early."

"Thank you, Nick," I say with a smile, one that is recprocated.

"Don't thank me quite yet."

Over the course of the next hour, I prepare anything I can think of. I find a camelback which I can fill with water that'll last me the whole day. There's a few pouches in there that I can put some food in. Plus it has many buckles around my waist and abdomen so it won't fall off. I grab a leather piece of armor, being grateful that I'm flat-chested and try it on, fitting perfectly. I then find a scabbard with a machete in it, placing that on my side.

I take everything off and place it in the corner of the shack so that I may find it easily in the morning. As I head outside, I notice that most of the boys have gone to sleep.

"So... how was the party?" I hear a voice ask from right behind me and I turn around and before I know whats happening, I'm being grabbed by my arms. "I'm sure I can make the night... more memorable..."

"Let me go," I say as firmly as I can. Show no fear, Kat.

"I don't think so," the boy mutters as his arms begin to move.

"I wont say it again," I say, my voice rising with each word. "Let me go!"

"Not until I get what I want," the boy growls.

"What the shuck is going on here?" Newt's voice says as I go to head-butt the boy, but Newt had torn him off of me and I end up hitting Newt, more specifically, his nose. "Ouch!"

"I'm so sorry!" I apologize immediately and he just shakes his head.

"You okay?" Newt asks and I look over to see the boy already gone.

"Yeah," I say and Newt just looks at me cautiously, letting go his nose.

"He didn't..."

"No," I answer immediately. I would've stopped him even if Newt didn't show up. Only Newt wouldn't have ended up with another broken nose...

"You really like hurting me," Newt mentions, a grin slowly spreading onto his face.

"I said I was sorry! Each time!" I insist as I glare at him.

"Not the first time. You were busy being stubborn," Newt smirks at me and I just stay silent, glaring at him.

"I was being cautious," I say as I take a seat on the log I was at earlier when talking to Nick. "Can you blame me?"

"No. I can't," Newt admits, all joking aside. We sit there in silence for a few minutes, just listening to the chirps of the crickets in the woods. "I forgot to ask, you remember your name yet?"

"Yeah..." I shrug as I glance at him, unsure of how he'll react to the strange name that I have. "It's Kat."

"Well that wasn't very enthusiastic," Newt grins at me as I laugh softly.

"I don't know," I shrug as I think it over. "I mean... What am I supposed to think?"

"Joy!" Newt says happily, his slightly drunken state showing. "It's something of your past. Maybe not much, but it's still something."

"What'd you do when you remembered?" I ask with a small smile. "I could picture you waking everyone up, one by one. 'My name's Newt. My name's Newt. My name's Newt.'"

"Actually, I came up with the original group of Gladers. When I..." Newt starts to explain but I cut him off.

"The original group?" I ask and Newt frowns.

"That's right. You had to be different from everyone else and not get the amazing Tour from Nick," Newt smiles and I can't help but smile a bit too. "3 months ago, 30 of us woke up here, no memory, just like you. The day after, the Box came up with supplies. Nick took over and got everyone organized, turned us into what we are today."

"Just like that?" I ask in shock.

"What do ya mean?" Newt frowns and I just laugh.

"A group of 30 teenage boys don't fight over who was gonna be leader?"


	4. The Maze

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights go to James Dashner.

 **{Week 1, Day 4}**

"She-bean."

My eyes open and I see Nick at the edge of my bunk. I glance hurriedly at my watch, praying that I didn't oversleep. 0545.

"Come on, follow me," Nick says quickly and I'm forced to grab my jacket quickly before dropping down and following him.

"Where we going?" I ask as we walk across the fields, towards one of the walls. Nick doesn't respond to me, but as we make it up to a section of the wall, I see names carved into the rock.

I notice Minho's first. It's hard to miss. Not only is it right in the center, it's bigger than everyone else. Nick. Frypan. Newt.

Felix.

His name is scratched out. He's the kid who went into the Maze and never came back.

"You don't expect me to come back," I mention as I run my hand over Felix's name. I glance back at Nick to see him looking down at the ground.

"Don't go," Nick eventually says as he hands me a knife. I choose a empty area and quickly carve my short name. "Kat... That's a cool name..."

"Really? I thought it was kinda strange," I laugh, glancing at Nick briefly as I hand him back the knife. "I have to get ready."

"Kat?" Nick calls out and I turn around and face him. "Be careful."

I glance up towards the top of the Maze and then towards where the door will open in about an hour.

"I'll try."

I quickly make my way back to the Homestead, where I head back to my bunk and quickly gather up my things. But as I'm about to leave, I hear a soft voice.

"Kat?" Newt's groggy voice calls out and I look up towards him. He's laying on his side on the edge of the bunk so he can look down at me. "Be careful."

"I'm always careful," I say with a smirk and Newt just laughs softly before clutching his head. "You need to sleep, Newt."

"You sure?" Newt asks and I softly laugh.

"Fairly sure," I mention as I move a bit closer. "Go back to sleep, Newt."

"Okay..." Newt barely manages to get out before he's fast asleep. I can't help but smile. There's just something about Newt that seems so... familiar? Maybe we knew each other before all this happened. I don't know.

-x-

0700 came quickly. I had taken a lap around the Glade and stretched by the time the doors started to rumble and begin their slow process. As soon as the doors have opened enough for me to get through, I take off sprinting. I don't think, I just act.

As I come up to an intersection, I jump up and grab a vine, my knife already in my hands to cut it down and I throw the vine on the ground to see which areas I've covered. As soon as I'm through the intersection, I glance back in wonder as I realize that everything I just did came naturally to me.

I don't know how, but when I eventually stop and take a break, I make a quick rough sketch of everything I've run so far. I couldn't tell you how I did it, but it's like my body had already been used to this and the skills, muscle memory, are still there even though I have no memory of it.

I don't quite remember what happened next, I just remember running. It was at least a few hours before I decided to stop again and make another rough sketch and eat a small snack. Pretty soon after I start running again, I come across a big opening in the wall, almost exactly like the doors that are in the Glade. But on the other side is another section of the Maze. This place has to be huge.

I just run. Despite the enormity of it all, I feel a sense of belonging. I don't know when or how, but I've run the Maze before. I lose myself in it. So much to the point that I don't realize that I only have half an hour before the Doors close until my watch starts beeping at me.

I start sprinting towards the closest entrance back into the Glade. This entrance is to the west through the woods, the complete opposite side of where I entered the Maze. It takes a long time, several missed turns and times staring at my map to get me back to the Glade. As I see the entrance in sight, I pick up the pace once again, slipping through the Doors just seconds before they shut.

Best day ever... I think.

I begin to make my way back towards the Homestead so I can grab some clothing and maybe get a quick snack from Frypan before heading off to the hut in the corner of the Glade, but as I walk through the Glade, it's empty. I don't hear anything, which is strange, the boys have proven to be super loud in the few days I've known them. The Homestead is empty. I head out front of the Homestead and finally spot people, some working in the gardens and a few carrying supplies. There's the dude who tried... kissing me last night, a few people I don't know, and Gally. Gally seems to be alright. I mean, he did try protecting me down in the Box.

"Hey, Gally! Where is everyone!" I ask as I walk up behind him, causing him to drop the log he was carrying and turn around in surprise.

"You're alive!" Gally pulls me into a hug and I'm left completely clueless, only able to softly pat Gally's back as he holds on to me tightly. Eventfully, Gally pulls away and stares at me like I'm an alien.

"What's wrong?" I ask as Gally just looks over my shoulder and points behind me. I turn around and see a group of about ten people moving towards the wall, where I spot a lone figure standing. As I start making my way towards the group, they all stop by where the Door closed and take a seat. As I'm about to say something to the group, the figure standing off to the side turns around and stares at me in shock.

"Kat?" Nick asks softly, everyone sitting on the ground whip their heads around to see me. I hear a chorus of voices, so much that I can't make out a word any of them are saying. "Silence!"

Everyone instantly gets quiet at the sound of Nick's voice, who has made his way around to my side. He pulls me into a tight hug, just like Gally.

"How'd you survive?" Nick whispers to me, him not breaking out of our hug, so I do it for him. I take a step back and look around at the whole group staring at us.

"I didn't run into a Griever if that's what you're asking," I say as I look each one in the eye, touched that they all care enough about me to see if I made it back.

"And the Maze?" Minho steps forward, his expression curious instead of fearful.

"Unbelievable, yet... scary?" I mention and everyone's fear starts to grow. "But not because of what's out there. The place is huge. I had to have run at least 20 miles and I barely scratched the surface..."

"So you need help exploring it?" Newt steps forward, looking at me before glancing at Nick. "I'll help."

"Me, too," Minho stands next to Newt and they both stare at Nick expectantly.

"No. Maybe eventfully, but not now," Nick states firmly before stalking off, leaving everyone staring after him. But before I can say anything, I feel someone pull me into a hug.

"I'm alright, Newt..." I say as my head rests on his chest, but when I open my eyes, I spot Minho making kissey faces at the both of us, making me take a step back. The last thing I need is for my life become gossip for all the boys. "I need to go redraw some of these maps..."

With that, I turn around and just walk towards the hut with the window, drowning out all of the questions that follow me.


	5. Pranks?

A/N- Im sorry if this chapter and the next one seem slightly like filler chapters. With where this story is heading I wanted to show an glimpse of what a normal day would be like if Kat wasn't running the Maze. I also want to get it out there that this isn't going to be a fanfic where the main couple agree on everything, even if it completely goes against their personality to do so. There will be a main issue that is argued about by Kat and Newt throughout not only this book, but the rest.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, James Dashner is the creator of this amazing world.

 **{Week 2, Day 1}**

This is insane. Completely impossible.

There's absolutely no way that the Maze could be this complex. Why would one section be the same as before but another one keep changing? Ill have to check the other sections. It's possible that the inner section that surrounds the Glade remains the same...

I need to check the map that I had begun to draw up the other day for that outer section that I was in today. It is entirely possible that I'm just overwhelmed with everything that's happened in the past week and I'm just freaking out.

I enter the Glade and see most of it empty. It is almost 1730. Meaning dinner is already almost done... I'll figure out something to eat later. I need to check these maps and see if I'm just being paranoid.

I jog across the lush grass, a nice change from the harsh cement that covers the entire Maze floor. I make my way across the river and into the Map Room, where I light the small lantern and pull out paper to get the multiple different sketches that i made today onto one sheet.

"What ya doing?" I hear Newt's voice from behind me as I finish my sketch and grab the previous one, setting them side by side.

"We're in trouble..." I mutter softly and I hear the creaking of the wood as Newt moves next to me, placing two bowls of stew down on the table before examining the maps.

"What am I looking at?" Newt asks as he glances back and forth between the he two pieces of paper.

"This map," I point to the map on the left. "Is the beginning sketch of the section directly east of here. I drew this up on my second day running."

"The other map," I place my finger on the edge of the map on the right. "Is a drawing that I just did today of the exact same section."

I look up at Newt and see the realization in his eyes. Slowly, his gaze shifts to mine, a look of fear written all across his features.

"It changes."

-x-

 **{Week 2, Day 4}**

"Kat..." I'm shaken awake, my eyes opening to the sight of the dimly lit 'Runners' Hut,' as Minho insists on calling it.

"Yes?" I ask as I blink the sleep out of my eyes as I sit up and turn around in my chair.

"You can't keep doing this," Newt's voice says as I yawn and hear the familiar thunk of a bowl being set down on the table.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I mutter as gratefully take the spoon that he hands me and I savor the taste of the chicken noodle soup that Frypan has prepared.

"You mean you haven't been running the entire section the last two days?" Newt raises an eyebrow at me and I just shrug as he picks up the two sketches I have on the table.

"It doesn't make any sense. I see absolutely no pattern to the way the walls are moving," I mention between bites as we both just stare down at the maps. "I need more maps."

"That will be for another day. But right now, you are taking a break," Newt pushes the maps away and pushes the bowl of food towards me. "Plus, Minho wants you to stay in the Glade tomorrow, something about needing your help with something..."

"But if this Maze changes every day, I need to record each one so that I can..." I try arguing but Newt just shakes his head.

"And until you can have more people to record the rest of the sections, it's meaningless," Newt states as I devour the chicken noodle soup. "Now, leave these here. You can look at them during the day tomorrow, when you aren't with Minho. But for now, we're gonna get you more food and you are going to relax."

"Do I have any say in this?" I ask as Newt pulls my chair out.

"No, now come on," Newt says exasperatedly and I just raise an eyebrow at him, not moving an inch. "I'm not leaving until you do."

"And you say I'm the stubborn shank," I grumble as I stand up and grab my empty bowl. I might as well get something outta this.

"Says the person who's running themselves ragged," Newt states and I just glare at him, but it quickly disappears when Minho comes running up to us.

"Finally, she-bean the queen bee finally comes outta her hidey hole!" Minho grins as he picks me up and tosses me over his shoulders, earning a shout from me.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I hit him on his back, sticking my tongue out at Newt, who is just grinning. "I hate both of you."

"Aw! Don't say that!" Minho basically drops me on the ground before he and Newt plop down beside me. "You are going to join us in our pranks."

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to be doing something other than running and studying maps, but the fact that it was pranking people made it all the more awesome. Less than an hour later, after everyone goes to bed, we start getting everything set up.


	6. Pranks!

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own the Maze Runner or anything involved with it, that sadly belongs to James Dashner.

 **{Week 2, Day 5}**

The next morning is much more hectic than usual, at least for me. I'm in the back corner with most the people I know. I have a top bunk with Clint right below me. Just across the walkway is Alby on the lower bunk and Newt on the upper one. To the right, Minho has the top bunk and Frypan is below him. And diagonally to the right, Alby has the top, Nick has the bottom. Gally is just to the left of us and the rest of the Gladers are throughout the rest of the room, but we have our own little corner.

Normally, I'm up and out of here before anyone else even begins to stir, but today I was able to sleep in because I wasn't heading into the Maze.

"Everything set up?" Minho asks me as he hops down off his bunk.

"Yep," I say with a smile, probably one of the first real ones I've had this entire time. There's just something about everything that's going on. I feel like I'm meant to be running the Maze, but I get this amazing feeling when planning and setting pranks with Newt and Minho. Almost like we've done it a thousand times before. But there's something slightly off about it, like we're missing a vital part. I don't know.

"So you'll be with Minho during the morning, helping the Builders," Newt approaches both of us once the rest of our area has cleared out. "Then you'll be joining me with the Track-hoes in the afternoon."

"Got it."

-x-

"Oi! Who messed with the salads?" I can hear Frypan's shouting from across the Glade. I glance at Minho with a small smirk, but the action is noticed by Gally.

"Seriously? 'I think I just need a small break from running...'" Gally laughs as we hear more loud noises come from the Kitchens. "What'd you do?"

"Replaced the lettuce with grass, put some rocks in for the croutons, and I sprinkled some ketchup and mustard on top in a smiley face," I grin as Minho and I just give each other a high five.

"Guys! Siggy's not happy!" Newt comes sprinting towards us and I look at him in confusion.

"Who the shuck is Siggy?"

"Frypan," Gally answers. "His name is Siggy but we call him Frypan because he found a frying pan that he used to break my nose when I went to get him outta the Box. That's why I gave Newt the honor of getting the Greenies out."

"Siggy?" I reiterate, trying to get my mind wrapped around the weird name.

"Hey, don't be mean, Kat. Not everyone can have gorgeous names like us," Minho grins as he smirks at Newt. "There has to be someone who is named after the salamanders."

"Don't you dare bloody start this again," Newt threatens as he points a finger at Minho. I move next to Gally and just let the two bicker for a few minutes, trying my best not to laugh. But before the two finish, Frypan... Siggy... no, that's too weird. Frypan it is... Frypan is storming over here, his eyes on fire as he glances between myself and the two bickering Gladers.

"You're involved?" Frypan demands as he glares at Minho and Newt. "I expected them, but not you, Kat!"

"It was all her idea, Fry!" Minho says immediately and my jaw drops as I look at him.

"Oh, you aren't blaming all this on me! It was your idea to this in the first place!" I throw back and he just shakes his head.

"No! That was Newt!" Minho says and I switch my gaze to Newt.

"No! I set it up! But it was your idea to do this!" Newt counters as the three of us stand in a triangle, trying to decide who to blame but clearly getting nowhere. In the end, all three of us ended up in the Slammer, the small jail that the Gladers built over by the Gathering Hut.

Luckily, this gave us the perfect view to watch everything unfold. While I messed with the kitchen, Minho switched all of the gardening tools around, and Newt left fox klunk inside the bagger shack underneath a floorboard. The bagger standing duty by the east door had absolutely no idea what smelled so horrible, and Zart and the Track-hoes kept floundering whenever they would reach into their bag and pull out the wrong tools.

Newt's cell was to the left of mine and Minho's was to the right. We were still able to talk and Minho was constantly making the worst jokes ever, but when we had nothing to talk about, it was horrendous. The chair was wobbly and it was either that or the dirt. I ended up breaking off the legs of the chair, I'll deal with an angry Gally later, and sat down on the chair while swinging the legs back and forth like they were swords, trying to get my motions fluid. But everything got a million times better when the fruits of our labor paid off and we could hear a Glader shouting curse words. Despite how horrible being in a jail cell was, it was worth it.


	7. The Rebellion (pt 1)

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own the Maze Runner or anything involved with it, that sadly belongs to James Dashner.

 **{Week 3, Day 1}**

"NEWT!" I shout as I sprint forward and tackle him to the ground, saving him from Frankie's arrow. Minho then comes up behind Frankie with a knife, making it quick and mostly painless. More than he deserves.

"Thanks for that," Newt tells me as he pulls me up.

"Anytime," I mutter as Minho joins us.

"You're welcome, lovebirds..." Minho grumbles and both Newt and I sigh, going to protest that we aren't dating. "Yeah, yeah. You aren't dating. First stage is denial."

"Kat!" Nick's voice breaks us out of our little bubble, said person running towards us and putting his hand on my shoulder. "You alright?"

"We're fine," I nod before looking back at Frankie's limp body. "How many more?"

"Hard to tell. Archie was with them but we dealt with him, not before he took out Marty and Watt," Nick says as we make our way to the Homestead. "And we know that Carl and Joey are with them."

"Unfortunately, Frankie killed Tom before we got to him," Newt says and I can't help but sigh. How did things get like this?

"Who do we know is on our side?" I ask as we enter the Homestead, only a handful of people inside. Clint, who is tending to the wounded, Frypan, Leo, Alby, Graham, Copper, Alex, Eddie, and Hawke. Thirteen out of thirty-one.

"Everyone in here," Nick says before taking a look at my arm. "You should get this looked at, Kat."

"I'm fine. Other people are worse off," I pull my arm out of his grip and make my way over to where Minho and Newt have taken a seat. "Frypan, Alex, glad you're alright."

"Back at ya," Frypan mumbles as he hands me a blanket.

"This is ridiculous," Newt states and we all look at him. "How could they possibly think that this is the correct way to go about things?"

"I'm not sure what's going on. I got back and all I heard was that people started killing each other," I mention and Newt looks at me apologetically.

When I came into the Glade, I saw lots of fire and everything looked abandoned, that's when I found Chris' body. It didn't have an arm and was... hardly recognizable. Then Newt was right next to me telling me about how he thought I was dead. I almost thought he was going to kiss me. But then the screams started and Newt was dragging me away, saying we needed to find someplace safe from the people trying to kill everyone.

"Carl, Joey, and Frankie are wanting a change in leadership," Nick says from behind me, causing me to turn and look at him, the gash down his face more noticeable now.

"And not everyone agrees, so they think they'll just kill everyone and start new, brainwashing the new Greenies that come up," Newt adds on and I just shake my head. "If new Greenies come up."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I sigh as I run my head slightly. Nothing ever makes sense in the shucking place.

"The supplies came up today with no Greenie," Frypan mentions and I glance at him.

"I've only been here two weeks," I state and they all just shake their heads. "You said that a new Greenbean comes up once a month."

"You came up two weeks early for some reason," Nick says and I just shake my head.

"We need to be alive to worry about that, so that can wait till later... What about Archie and all the others who are killing? If it was just those main three, why are we unsure who is on our side?" I ask and the boys just shift uncomfortably.

"Those slintheads want to live, figure if they kill us that they'll be allowed to be apart of the new regime," Nick shrugs and Alby speaks up.

"It doesn't matter. We need to end this before more people die," Alby says as the door flies open and Nico stumbles in, clutching his side. Everyone has their weapons drawn, not moving an inch.

"Help..." Nico mutters before collapsing.

"He's bleeding!" Eddie rushes to Nico's side, trying to get a better look at the wound. "Clint, get some bandages!"

But before Clint makes it there, Nico springs up with a knife in his hand, slicing Eddie's throat and stabbing Leo, who was standing nearby, before rushing at an unarmed Alex, spurring me into action. I rush forward and kick the knife out of Nico's hand, putting my machete at his throat.

"Don't do anything stupid," I growl as Nico just smirks.

"Just kill him, Kat!"

"You won't kill me, you're just a scared little girl," Nico says, looking at Nick before looking me up and down. "You're lucky someone has a little crush on you, otherwise you'd be entertainment for the boys."

"You shucking slinthead!" I hear Newt growl as he goes to move forward but is held back by Frypan and Minho.

"Ohh! Looks like another little crush," Nico smirks before looking around at everyone. "Surrender now and we'll show you mercy."

"You don't know the meaning of the word," I say as I look at Eddie and Leo. "You slaughter innocent people and feel nothing!"

"If that's what it takes to survive," Nico shrugs and I just narrow my eyes.

"I'd rather die then stoop so low."

"I'm sure that can be arranged, after the boys get what they want," Nico smirks, but that is quickly wiped away with one swing of my machete. His head falling completely off.

I don't look back at the boys, I only move forward and March right past Nico's body. Alby was right. This needs to end soon before more are killed. We can't hide in the Homestead, waiting for something to happen.

Where would Carl and Joey be hiding? The Blood House. Carl's a Slicer, plus they could fashion weapons out of certain materials in there.

"Where do you think you're going?" I hear Nick's voice as the sounds of footsteps follow me.

"I'm going to end this," I say as Newt comes up to my other side.

"Just how to plan on doing that?" Newt asks me as we head into the Woods.

"I'm gonna kill Carl and Joey," I state simply.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," I nod as we reach the Deadheads, heading for the edges of the Blood House.

"Okay. What's your plan?" Nick asks me as I peer in the window, seeing the two targets prepare weapons.

"Here's what's gonna happen..."

-x-

"Everything ready?" I ask as both Newt and Nick join me on top of the roof of the Blood House.

"I'm ready," Nick says as he holds his molotov cocktail, moving to the far end of the barn.

"Minho, Copper, Graham, and Hawke have laid the traps and are in position," Newt says as I peer through boards.

"Nick, on my mark," I say and he just nods. "One. Two. Three. Mark!"

As I made it to one, I dropped my cocktail right by the door, cutting them off. At mark, Nick drops his and it cuts them off from the storage room built into the wall. All this to funnel them to the windows.

"Where are they?" I ask as I try looking through the cracks.

"They're going for the windows!" Newt whispers and I can't help but smile. All going according to the plan. Two strangled shouts are heard not too long after. Nick, Newt, and I go running for the edge of the roof and look down to see two small nets filled with people. One net being held by Minho and Hawke, the other by Graham and Copper.

"That was bloody amazing, Kat!" Newt says and I can't help but smile.

"Thanks, Newt," I say as it starts to rain. Hopefully it'll put out the fire. Hadn't been sure what we were gonna do about that but... Oh well.

"It's raining..." Nick mutters as he looks at Newt and me in shock.

"So what?" I shrug as the boys just hold their hands out to capture the water.

"It has never rained here, not once," Newt mutters as we all look up at the skies. "What are we gonna do with them?"

"That's not for me to decide," I say with a glance at Nick, who just looks at us uncertainly.

"I don't know what to do," Nick admits as Newt and I glance at each other.

'Nick needs to step up and assert leadership here, otherwise this'll happen again,' I look at Newt, who just bites a part of his tongue, just like he does whenever he's nervous.

'But what he decides here will be used to determine future punishments. This is something that shouldn't be decided by one person,' I think Newt is trying to say.

"Will you two stop that!" Nick says, breaking Newt and I out of our internal conversation.

"What?" Newt asks and Nick just rolls his eyes.

"Nothing," Nick grumbles and I just glance at Newt.

"Maybe we should throw them in the Slammer for now, decide what to do once we get everything under control," I propose and Newt just nods approvingly.

"Sounds good," Nick says briefly before jumping off the roof.

"What's his problem?" I ask Newt softly as we watch Nick go talk to Minho and the others.

"He's just stressed," Newt shrugs and I glance at him.

"And we aren't?" I ask and Newt just shuffles his feet nervously.

"Well, he feels like this whole situation is his fault," Newt amends and I just shrug.

"It is," I say and when Newt just stares at me in shock, I continue. "But that's in the past. We've dealt with it. If he's going to remain our leader, we need him to be able to move past these kind of things."

"Sounds like you should be leader," Newt smiles as we overlook the Glade.

"You do realize the extent of my memories is only two weeks, right?" I ask and Newt just laughs.

"And do you realize that we only have an extra three months?" Newt asks and I just laugh.

"I wonder what we were like before this, were we leaders there?" I ask and Newt just sighs. "Were we students? Normal children? Have we changed?"

"I don't know. I'd like to think we're the same. That I'm still me," Newt shrugs as I just look at him. His short blond hair finally flat from the rain. "What?"

"Nothing," I look away, seeing the others drag Joey and Carl out of their traps and towards the rest of the Glade. "Um, we should get going."

With that we drop down off the roof and work for a few hours to get everything organized and back to normal.


	8. The Rebellion (pt 2)

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own the Maze Runner or anything involved with it, that sadly belongs to James Dashner.

 **{Week 3, Day 2}**

"Frypan, get some sort of food together. Something that'll calm everyone down a bit," I tell him as the sun starts to show up, allowing us to put out our torches. "Clint, how's it going?"

"Luckily the injuries are only minor," Clint tells me as he stitches together a cut in Gally's shoulder. "Anyone with anything serious..."

"What happened, Gally?" I ask, trying to avoid the talk of all the death, as I pull a blanket over Julio.

"I don't know. It was dark, I was trying to get people into the Runners hut when an arrow came out of nowhere. The person ran into the Woods," Gally says through slight intakes of breath whenever Clint puts in another stitch. "How many dead?"

"Thirteen," I mumble and Gally just shuts his eyes.

"Fourteen," Newt corrects me as he walks under the tarp. "We just found Paul's body by the lake."

"Wait! Paul?" Gally demands and Newt just glances at me quickly.

"Yeah," Newt says hesitantly.

"What is it, Gally?" I ask and he just looks at me alarmed.

"Paul was with me and the others in the Runners' Hut," Gally says and my eyes widen.

"Shuck," I mutter as I look across the Glade, we have a traitor out there.

"We need to get word out," Newt goes to leave but I grab his arm.

"No! We can't let this person know we're on to them!" I say and Gally just frowns.

"We can't just act like normal when we know we could be stabbed in the back, Kat," Gally says and I just sigh.

"I know... Newt, just go get Nick, speak of this to no one," I say and he just nods, moving out of the Kitchens quickly and before I know it, both he and Nick are back.

"What's going on?" Nick asks.

"We didn't get them all," I say and he just frowns.

"How?"

"Paul was in the Runners' Hut with me and a few others until Kat and Newt came to get us. Newt just said that they found his body by the lake," Gally says as he sits up.

"Are Carl and Joey still in the Slammer?" Clint asks and everyone looks hopeful.

"I'll check it out," I say immediately and before anyone can say anything, I'm walking out of the Kitchens and I'm at the Slammer. Luckily or unluckily, both Carl and Joey are still in their cells, both untampered.

"So, I hear you're the one who killed Nico," Carl's voice drawls out from the back of his cell. "Killed him without a second thought before you were off to kill us.

"He deserved it," I state with a glare, only hearing laughs from both Carl and Joey in response.

"Sweet, innocent, little Kat," Joey comes to the edge of his cell. "You act so scared, like you wouldn't hurt a fly, all in an effort to manipulate your way to the top."

"We saw through you right from the beginning. You're mostly the reason we acted out," Carl calls out and my breath catches. "All so we could put you back in your place."

"Slim it, both of you," I growl and I go to move away, but Carl isn't done.

"I'd watch my back if I were you, Kat," Carl calls out, causing me to stop momentarily before continuing back to the Kitchens.

"It wasn't them," I say immediately as I walk in. "The Slammer hasn't been touched. They have details of what was going on while they were in the Blood House. And Carl said I should watch my back, so either they plan on escaping or they still have someone out here."

"He said you should watch your back?" Newt asks and I just nod, not discussing it in public.

"We need to draw him out," Nick says and we all just nod. "And I think I have an idea..."

-x-

"You ready?" Newt mumbles to me as he hands me my pole.

"No," I admit as I glance at Nick, who looks much better than he did last night when we was torn over what to do. It seems like he feels this is the right thing to do. "What if the traitor doesn't take the bait?"

"He will," Newt says as we look over at the small group of Gladers who we are unsure of. "He has to."

"You good, Julio, Alex?" Minho asks as he makes sure our two injured Gladers are positioned comfortably behind us. These two are in constant pain and won't be able to move fast if the traitor goes after them. They've been through enough, we don't need to get them killed. "Everything's in position."

"Good," I mumble, taking another cautious glance at the Gladers. I honestly have no idea which of them it could be. I'd like to think it isn't Ben or Winston or Zart or Copper or Graham, but we can't assume that it's not them.

"Newt, let's go," Alby taps Newt's shoulder before nodding at the Slammer. Newt just nods, giving me and Minho a strained smile before walking over to walk the prisoners over.

"You really think this is gonna work?" Minho asks me and I shrug, still staring after Newt. "He's gonna be fine. It's us I'm worried about."

"Let's hope they just plan on using us to knock each other out instead of just sinking a blade in our backs," I mumble softly as I think about our plan. It leaves a lot of risk. A risk I'm glad Nick wasn't allowing Newt to take. He's too important. To me and everyone else.

"You're a bright and cheerful rainbow, you know that?" Minho mentions and I just glare at him.

"I'm sorry. I woke up two weeks ago with no memory of who I am, unable to move from injuries. I am... was surrounded by over 30 boys and we are stuck in this Glade with a ginormous Maze that changes its layout each night to keep us trapped," I snap and Minho just holds his arms up in defeat. "And to make matters worse, we just had to kill some of our own for killing some of our own and we now Banishing two of them to spend the night with the Grievers!"

"I get it, Kat," Minho puts a hand on my shoulder, being surprisingly serious.

"I'm sorry, Minho," I mumble softly and he just sighs.

"Is it that time of the month?" Minho asks with a smirk and I just whack him on the shoulder. "Is that a yes?"

"That's a slim it, Minho," I growl and he has the nerve to laugh at me. But before he can say anything, I see Newt and Alby get close with Carl and Joey. "They're here."

As soon as they get close, Carl starts trying to make his way to me, but Newt shoves him forward right next to the door, Alby doing the same with Joey.

"Remember what I said, Kat?" Carl laughs at me as I hand Newt his pole, keeping my back exposed to the Gladers on the sides. Minho doing the same on the opposite side.

'Be careful, Kat,' I see Newt look at me and I just nod back.

'You, too, Newt,' I send back a strained smile.

"Carl of the Slicers and Joey of the Track-hoes, you are hereby sentenced to Banishment for the murder of Abe of the Builders, Tom of the Track-hoes, Charlie of the Bricknicks, Eddie of the Med-jacks, Marty of the Sloppers, Leo of the Sloppers, Watt of the Builders, Chris of the Slicers, and Paul of the Bricknicks."

"What about Kat? The bitch murdered Nico," Joey growls at Nick after his speech.

"She did so to save another Glader after Nico slayed two of our own," Nick says as we slowly start to move forward, pushing them to the edge of the East Door. So far, I haven't heard anyone from my side move, maybe the traitor is on Minho's side.

"Is that it? Or is she not being Banished because of your crush?" Carl demands, once again trying to say that Nick likes me, which makes no sense. Nick has never been anything but like a brother towards me.

"You try to speak of things that you have no clue about in an attempt to show that I am unable to lead these people," Nick says and momentarily stuns Carl, who recovers quickly. "They don't believe your lies."

"Apparently not all," Carl says with a smile and I frown. What's that...

Nick's strangled gasp has everyone turning their head to see Julio, standing right behind Nick with a knife embedded in his back.

"Kat!" I hear Newt's voice before being tackled to the ground, losing consciousness as my head hits the ground.


	9. Change

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own the Maze Runner or anything involved with it, that sadly belongs to James Dashner.

 **{Week 3, Day 4}**

"Ow."

"She's waking."

"Kat?" I hear Newt's shout and my eyes snap open.

"Ow..." I groan as I clutch my head. "Why's the world spinning?"

"Newt gave you quite the concussion when he saved your life," Clint says with a small, forced smile as Newt takes a seat on my bed.

"I'm so sorry," Newt mumbles to me and I try smiling, but it probably came out as a grimace.

"What happened?" I ask, last thing I remember... "Nick? Julio? Carl and Joey?"

"Slow down, Kat," Newt tells me and I don't need to be told twice, my head aching just from thinking. "It..."

"Just tell me, Newt," I mumble as Newt continues to search for words.

"Well, Julio sliced Alex's throat before he killed Nick. Carl used that as a chance to go after you, that's why I tackled you," Newt says apologetically. "Minho fought with Joey, throwing him into the Maze as the Door closed. Alby took Julio down quickly because he was injured, he's locked up in the Slammer. And during my struggle with Carl... I killed him."

Newt just looks at ground after saying the last part, but I reach over and grab his hand, rubbing my thumb softly over his bruised knuckles. Clint sees this and stands up, saying something about eating lunch before walking out, leaving Newt and I alone.

"Thank you," I murmur softly and Newt just shrugs.

"I killed a man, Kat," Newt mumbles and I just tap his chin so he's facing me.

"And you saved my life. More than that actually. I don't even want to think about what Carl would've done to me had he gotten his hands on me," I say and a little bit of light returns to Newt's eyes.

"Except I was the reason you were defenseless in the first place," Newt closes his eyes.

"From what I put together, Carl was rushing me and would've knocked me out anyway," I mention and Newt just shrugs, not accepting the fact that I'm thanking him, causing me to sigh. "Hey, Newt?"

Newt opens his eyes and looks at me just in time to see my palm come around and slap him in the face, hard enough for my ears to hear it and send pain shooting through my head.

"Ouch!" I say immediately and Newt glares at me.

"What the shuck was that for?" Newt demands and I smile despite the pain. "Trying to break my bloody nose again?"

"That's the Newt I know," I say with a grin and Newt just shakes his head in disbelief, but he has a smile on his face. "Now accept the fact that you killed someone to save me and accept the fact that I'm thanking you for it."

"But..."

"I will slap you again," I say and Newt just sighs, looking me in the eye.

"I'm glad you're alright, Kat," Newt says and I smile.

"Me, too. Thank you for saving me," I say and give him a look to go on.

"You're welcome," Newt says with a slight smile and I smile, but his quickly disappears. "We decided to hold a Gathering when you woke up. I need to take you there."

"What for?" I ask as Newt helps me stand up.

"Well. With Nick..." Newt stops right there, not even bothering to finish the sentence. Instead, he puts his arm underneath my knees and pick me up, bridal style.

"Newt, I'm perfectly capable of walking," I say and he just raises an eyebrow. "Newt..."

"Fine. Prove it," Newt puts me down and I try moving forward, but somehow end up going sideways and losing my balance, causing Newt to catch me and pick me up again. "See?"

"Wipe that damn smirk off your face, Newt," I grumble, placing my arms around his neck, as Newt just smiles even more.

"Welcome back, Kat," I hear a few people say when Newt walks into the Gathering Room, sitting me down in my chair by Minho.

"Thank you," I say out loud as Newt walks over to his chair to the right of Nick's old chair.

"So. Not your boyfriend?" Minho's voice causes me to groan and drop my head into my hands. "You seemed quite comfy in his arms."

"Minho. I am not afraid to punch you. Ask Newt, I slapped him hard enough to make my head hurt from the sound," I growl and Minho just raises his hands in defeat, but before we can continue any further, Newt clears his throat and everyone quiets down... all fourteen of us.

"The past two days have been... chaotic, to say the least. Over half of us are dead, our leader killed, our livestock and gardens ruined," Newt says and I inwardly groan. I had no idea about the gardens. "Alby and I agreed that things need to change. We can't have a repeat of what just happened."

"What are you saying?" Gally calls out.

"Alby came up with a system that we are going to implement. Each of the jobs are going to have a leader... a Keeper, who will be on a Council. Any problems will be told to the Keeper which will then come up in weekly Council meetings," Newt explains and I lean forward, interested in how exactly this is going to work.

"So we're not going to have a leader?" Winston asks and everyone mutters amongst themselves. Democracy is nice, but in a place like this, things happen fast.

"We will, one who will be able to make quick calls when needed," Newt nods before looking around at everyone. "We're all going to vote on it. That way the reasons for this previous Rebellion are being fixed."

For a few minutes, everyone is silent. Most everyone stares at the ground, but occasionally someone glances around to see if anyone is going to speak up.

"Okay, let's start on the left," Newt says as he points at Hawke, who looks around nervously before speaking up.

"There was one person I saw who stood out during the chaos that happened. When we needed to act, they led the way," Hawke says before looking at me. "I think that Kat should be our leader."

Silence. No one agreed. But no one disagreed. Shuck. I did not see this one. I figured everyone would choose Newt. He's obviously stepped up since Nick died.. He's even leading us through this meeting.

"All in favor of Kat being leader?" Newt calls out eventually, raising his hand as he does. One by one, everyone but Gally raises their hand. "Well, then. It's decided. And even though we don't need your vote, I think we should hear your reasoning, Gally."

"No offense, Kat," Gally shrugs with a glance at me.

"None taken," I say and he just smiles softly.

"She's been here two weeks. She is our Greenbean. Are we seriously talking about making the newest person here our leader? Especially when she came two weeks early and disrupted the normal schedule," Gally states and I just raise my hand and when Newt sees, he rolls his eyes.

"Yes, Kat?" Newt asks and I go to stand up, but my legs collapse, Minho catches me and takes me to the leader chair in the process.

"No. Take me back to my chair," I tell Minho as he goes to sit me down.

"This is your chair. Don't know if you've noticed, but we just voted you leader," Minho says nervously, glancing at Newt and Alby.

"And I'm saying I'm not the person for the job," I say and everyone breaks into chatter. "Not only does Gally have a valid point, but as soon as I am able, I'm heading back into the Maze. Whoever you vote leader, should be in the Glade, able to deal with situations as they arise."

With that, I tap Minho's shoulder and he takes me back to my seat, once again leaving this Gathering in silence.

"Well, then who wants to be a Runner?" Alby asks. "Raising your hand now will make you ineligible to be voted leader."

Seven people raise their hands. Newt, Minho, Hawke, Graham, Ben, Adam, and Copper. I nod at each and every one them gratefully. But then I notice something. That means over half of us wouldn't be here. That won't work.

"We'll have to slowly work you guys into the Maze," I mention and they all look confused. "We don't have the numbers to have 8 people in the Maze at once. When a new Greenie comes, we can add one of you into the Runners, but until then... we need to figure out who will be going in now."

"That's a discussion for later," Newt intervenes, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "We still need to figure out a leader."

A few hours, many arguments and debates later we all arrived at the same conclusion. We needed a leader who wouldn't take control and abuse the power we were giving him. Someone strong yet quiet. Someone like Alby. This is when the Gladers all unanimously voted Newt to remain 2nd in command and for me to be 3rd in command.

"I'm just saying that with so many dead, it would be stupid to send over half of our population into the Maze," I argue with Adam and Copper, all the noise and thinking making my head ache. "It's still dangerous out there and every time you step out of these walls you are playing with your life."

'Yet you do it gladly every day,' I see Newt say and I glance away from him.

"But those are risks we are willing to take," Copper says and I just sigh.

"I understand that and I am extremely grateful," I say and Copper just smiles until I continue. "But. Those still aren't the only reasons. How much food do you think 6 people can grow on their own? With us out in the Maze, we are dumping a lot on the people who stay here."

"As newly elected leader can I say something?" Alby calls out and Newt and I roll our eyes.

"No. We elected you leader to ignore everything you say," I say with a smirk, breaking the thick tension in the room.

"Thanks, Kat," Alby says sarcastically before looking across the Gladers. "The system that has Keepers should be used to help decide this."

"How so?" Newt leans forward.

"From what I believe, the Keeper is organizing the group of the best efficiency. For example, the Keeper of the Track-hoes would decide who is farming where," Alby says and when nobody disagrees, he continues. "What we're talking about is a Runner problem that should be handled by the Keeper of the Runners."

"So we need to discuss who will be the Keeper," I lean back into my chair, slightly rubbing my head to alleviate that pounding headache.

"Not just of the Runners, but of all our groups," Alby says as he looks around. "Everyone of us here more than qualifies. All of us are one of the Originals, except for Kat, but I think we can all agree that she's a special case."

"Since the Runners has been the main topic of discussion, I say we leave that one for last. Let everyone have some time to think," Newt proposes and I just nod.

"Good idea. First up, Builders..." Alby says as Newt grabs a pad of paper and a pencil.

"Come on, Alby. Everyone knows you were Nick's second there," Gally says as he looks around. "I think it's kinda obvious that it's you."

"I'm gonna take a page out of Kat's book," Alby says and I look at him strangely. "Since you guys elected me leader, it makes me ineligible to be a Keeper."

"I'm sorry," I raise my hand, earning everyone's gaze. "I don't see how you came to that conclusion. Especially using 'my logic.'"

"If I am needed to be called away to deal with a matter, the Builders couldn't be without a Keeper. It needs to be someone dependable," Alby says before looking back at Gally. "Someone like Gally."

"Plus if Alby was leader and Keeper, he'd have a lot of power that basically undermines the whole idea of this system," Newt adds on and I just shrug. I kind of zone out for a while, only paying slight attention when voting. And voting was nice and easy, especially with the Cooks and Med-jacks, seeing as there is only one.

We end up with Frypan as the Keeper of the Cooks. Clint as the Keeper of the Med-jacks. Gally as the Keeper of the Builders. Winston as the Keeper of the Slicers. Zart as the Keeper of the Track-hoes.

"She's still out. Just go get some sleep."

I swing my head over to the sound of Newt's voice, seeing the entire room empty as I find him, sitting not two feet away to my left, Minho closing the door on his way out.

"What happened?" I ask as a pain runs through my head.

"You were unanimously voted Keeper of the Runners," Newt says with a smile. "When Alby asked what you wanted to do about the issue we were going over earlier, you were completely zoned out."

"Really?"

"Everyone is off to bed," Newt says and I glance at my watch. 2300.

"We really stay up arguing that late?" I ask as I glance back at Newt, only to see him laugh. "What's so funny?"

"You've been sitting there for well over two hours," Newt says and my face drops.

"Why didn't you wake me? Or just go to sleep yourself?"

"Well, I figured that you would want to head to bed sometime soon and since you can't walk, I'd hate to wake up in the morning to see you collapsed in the middle of the grass," Newt says and I just scowl at him.

"I'm sure I would be..." I try standing up but once again collapse and Newt is forced to catch me.

"You sure about that?" Newt asks with a smirk as he picks me up.

"Wipe that shucking smirk off your face," I glower, looking anywhere but Newt. But unfortunately, my gaze falls on the Blood House. The poor barn half destroyed from the fire that I set. "What happened to Julio?"

"Well, we were going to Banish him tonight, but we kinda lost track of the time. He's still in the Slammer," Newt says as we both become very serious. "So we'll Banish him tomorrow."

"Any sign of Joey?" I ask as I glance at the East Door.

"The Grievers left what was left of him on our doorstep this morning," Newt says and I'm grateful that I haven't eaten all day.


	10. Back on Track

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own the Maze Runner or anything involved with it, that sadly belongs to James Dashner.

 **{Week 7, Day 1}**

"Come on, Kat!" Minho whines at me. I barely spare a glance at him, seeing his entire body draped on top of the table, before returning my attention to the maps I have in front of me. "The Box came up today..."

"Already?" I fully look up at Minho before looking at the time stamp on my maps. Shuck. The past week has gone by so fast.

"Yes..." Minho drawls out and I look up to see him staring at me expectantly.

"You don't have to wait for me, Min," I say with a forced smile. Minho doesn't seem too convinced, but he stands up and walks over to my side of the table.

"Come out soon, Kat," Minho says seriously, making me look up at him. "You need to cut yourself some slack now and again."

With that, Minho walks out of the Runners' Hut, softly closing the door behind him. I have been cutting myself some slack. There were times when I would try running as much of another section as I could before making it back right before the Doors closed. I have since stopped that and just mapped out one section, and then came back early and tried to study it for a new pattern. But nothing ever changed. The changes are always random and never the same, this thing isn't set on repeat.

After a while I switch to Minho's maps and look at what he's collected the past month. But again, nothing. And when I compare the two sets, mine and his, none of the maps are the same. By the time I can restart looking at my maps though, the door opens behind me.

"Come on, you're done for the day," Newt starts grabbing the papers in front of me before I can stop him.

"Hey!" I can barely manage to get out, but Newt just ignores me as he puts the papers into my trunk. "Newt, I know something is there. I just have to find it."

"You also have to eat and act like a normal human being, so come on," Newt says as he finished putting my papers away and holds the door open for me. I glare at him and don't move, but he doesn't budge an inch, instead just choosing to stare me down.

'I'm not moving an inch until you do,' I can practically see Newt saying.

'Well, neither am I!' I glare back.

'You need food,' I barely see Newt saying that before my stomach growls.

"Fine," I grumble as I push myself to my feet, doing my best to ignore the aching muscles in my legs. I walk right past Newt and start hopping across the stones in the river. But I hit one and my ankle twists, but before I can fall in the water, I feel a pair of arms wrap around me and pull me back up.

"You okay?" Newt asks softly, but I know where this'll lead.

"I'm fine," I mumble before jumping to the next stone, ignoring the twinge of pain in my ankle.

"Seriously, Kat?" I hear Newt's voice, it's angry.

"What do you want me to say, Newt?" I turn around and glare at him. "It really hurts. I need to take time off from running the Maze, stay in the Glade where it's safe. That what you wanna hear?"

"I..." I don't even wait for Newt's reply before turning around and storming off. Ever since I got here, Newt and I have been really close. It's like we know what the others thinking just by their facial expressions. But it also meant that he can see through my exterior appearance. And I'm not used to that.

"Hey, Kat!" I hear my name being shouted and I glance over to see Frypan.

"Hey, Fry," I greet him with a smile and he grabs me a plate.

"I see Newt talked you into coming out for the party," Frypan mentions as he starts loading different things onto the plate.

"Yeah," I mumble, wracking my brain for why there would be a party. But nothing pops out to me.

"I saved you the good stuff," Frypan hands me a plate and I look down to see steak, mashed potatoes, and carrots.

"Thanks, Fry. You're amazing," I smile as I go towards my tree to eat, hopefully people will take that as a sign that I don't want to talk right now. But as I move closer, I see a big bonfire, just like the bonfire I had the day I woke up. A new person came up? I mean, we've had smaller parties here and there but it mostly consisted of just a small fighting ring and alcohol. This here is a full on party.

I stay off to the sides to finish my meal before going to mingle, figuring I should try to be little social at some point. I talk with a few people that I don't see that often, one of whom is Gally, who says that we'll be finishing the party with a fight and it'll be the two of us.

I spot Clint not too far away from me and I decide to head over and talk with him. But when I'm on my way over, I bump into someone and step on their foot, sending them crashing to the ground.

"I'm so sorry," I apologize as I help them up, but when they turn to face me I see Newt. "Newt... I..."

"Hey, Kat," Newt gives me a smile and goes to walk away, but I grab his arm and pull him back so that he's facing me.

"Newt. I really am sorry," I try saying but Newt just shrugs his shoulder indifferently.

"It was a little bump, Kat. Don't worry about," Newt tries walking away again, but when I stop him this time, I drag him away from the party.

"You know what I'm sorry for, Newt," I accuse and I see his eyes darken slightly. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry."

"It doesn't matter," Newt shrugs it off, and I stare at him like he's grown a second head.

"It obviously matters otherwise you wouldn't mention it as often as you do," I put forward and its Newt's turn to look at me like I'm insane.

"Because I don't think it's that much to ask!" Newt's voice raises slightly. "And because if I don't, you'll work yourself to death trying to figure that bloody Maze out."

"Someone has to! We can't stay here forever!" I argue as I gesture around. The Glade is beautiful, but it is still a prison. "It's out there for a reason!"

"But why you?" Newt demands. "There are others who can do that!"

"I'm not just gonna sit here and do nothing, Newt!" I argue, a thought coming to mind about how I can confront him about what this argument is really about. "And how would it look if I stopped and let the boys take over?"

"So this is because you're a shucking girl? You think you need to prove yourself?" Newt splutters out and I just cross my arms.

"Is it not because I'm a girl?" I demand. "If I was a guy, would you be acting the same way you are now?"

"Well, no..." Newt frowns, but I cut him off.

"Why do you care, Newt?" I demand, needing to hear it from him. "Why?"

"You know why," Newt whispers out, and I honestly don't know what's gonna happen next. But what actually happens, was not one of the possible scenarios I was thinking of.

"Am I interrupting something?" Gally steps between us, looking between the both of us.

"No," Newt says and Gally doesn't argue with it.

"Ok, Alby wants us to wrap up the party, meaning we're up, Kat," Gally says and all I can do is nod as I look at Newt.

"I'm ready," I say coolly as Newt turns and walks away, leaving me staring after him and Gally staring at me.

"What was that all about?" Gally asks me and I don't even try looking at him.

"Nothing," I say hostilely as I leave without another word, stepping into the rink before Gally can stop me.

I wish I could say that I was so angry from my conversation with Newt, that I beat the klunk out of Gally; that I was able to continue my winning streak. But I was so angry and distracted that I let Gally get the upper hand—and after losing to me week after week, Gally doesn't hold back—and once that happened I was done for. His strength kept me on my heels and I wasn't thinking straight so I wasn't coming up with any ideas to level the playing field. Finally, the beating came to a finish when Gally delivered a hard blow to the head, knocking me out instantly.


	11. WCKD is Good

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own the Maze Runner or anything involved with it, that sadly belongs to James Dashner.

 **{Week 21, Day 3}**

I wish I could say that everything got better after I got a knock to the head. But it didn't. By the next day, everyone knew Newt and I were not in a good standing with each other. He and I were both running the Maze, doing sections on the complete opposite sides so there's absolutely no chance of running into each other at the Maze. Gally built me a small homestead just after the accident, I think he felt a little guilty; I was the only one who lived in there and it had its own bathroom, meaning I didn't have to see Newt when we were back in the Glade. Most days I wouldn't even head to the Runners' Hut except to grab a few previous maps and put them all back. I'd sometimes look them over in my bunk, in my tree, or in the Kitchens with Fry. I was completely devoted to my work.

It was like that for three and a half months.

And then I found something.

-x-

(Newt's POV)

"Hey, Minho," I call out to my best friend, who's standing a few feet behind me, as I shake the door knob to the Runners' Hut. "It's locked."

"What?" Minho pushes past me and shakes the door knob. "Locked..."

"Thank you for confirming exactly what I knew..." I mumble.

"Anytime," Minho says with a grin, before he kicks the door in immediately.

"You know Gally's gonna kill you," I mumble as we both walk into the Hut.

"Like it'll take..." Minho's about to retort when he comes to a complete stop, me accidentally bumping into him because it was so abrupt.

"What's..." I go to ask as I move around him, but what catches my eye has me coming to a complete stop, too.

Kat.

Seeing her still gets my heart to race. But the feeling doesn't come this time, this time I see her collapsed on the floor, empty bottles of moonshine littered around her.

"Kat," Minho shakes her softly, earning a groan as she slowly starts to come to. "Kat. What's going on?"

"What?" Kat mumbles as Minho picks her up and sits her in a chair.

"Kat, look at us," Minho says as I grab the only bottle that has any alcohol left in it.

"Leave me alone," Kat grumbles as she squints at us, choosing to ignore us and reach for a bottle of moonshine, an empty bottle of moonshine. When nothing comes out, it's like all her energy is gone because it slips outta her hand. "Shuck."

"Looking for this?" I ask as I shake it slightly, proving that there's alcohol in it. Kat's eyes snap open and she starts moving towards me, but I step away and set the bottle down.

"Go shuck someone, you shucking shuck... slintface," Kat groans as she collapses back onto the chair and try's to curl up into a ball and go back to sleep. At first her words hit me hard. She hasn't spoken to me in months and that's the first thing she directs towards me?

She's drunk, she either doesn't mean it or she's being extremely truthful... I can hope that it's not the latter.

"Come on, Kat, you gotta wake up," I move to her side and she just shoves me away, trying to stumble towards the door.

"What's up with her?" Minho asks no one in particular as we start to head after her. I don't know where she was trying to head, but she kept going around in circles, eventually tripping and falling over a root. I rush forward and catch he before she falls, picking her up and carrying her back to her place. Despite being awake, she seems content to just lay in my arms, almost as if the past few months never happened.

Minho opens the door to her hut for me and I take it in for the first time. It's relatively decent sized, has a bed, a small bookcase and dresser; there's a door to what I assume to be the bathroom. But what sticks out the most, are the maps. They cover the walls, the bookshelves, most of the bed, and even some of the floor; as I look at them closer, I recognize some of my own maps in the mix. I nod at Minho to clear off the bed before I place her on the bed and pull up her blanket. She settles herself in and I spot her gaze on a necklace hanging off a nail on the side of the wall. It's a small moon pendant and as it slowly rotates, I see the inscription on the back.

-Newt

What? I... I...

"Seems like the two of you did know each other before."

-x-

Things seemed to have calmed down. Minho and I went and cleaned up the Runners' Hut before drawing up our maps. We had dinner, talked to some of the Runners; everything seemed exactly like normal. Until I trying to head to bed.

"Newt! You gotta come with me!" Clint comes sprinting into the Homestead and stares at me like something horrible has happened. Without another word, he turns and starts running outside, leaving me no choice but to follow. Around the Kitchens, all the Gladers have gathered around the edges, looking too afraid to enter. Clint and I push our way to the front of the crowd and I see exactly what's going on.

Kat's in there... with more moonshine. But this time she seems a bit more... here?

"Do something," Gally tells me as soon as he spots me.

"Like what?" I demand as I look back at her.

"I don't know. Anything!" Gally retorts angrily.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but she and I aren't exactly on good terms right now!" I state and Gally rolls his eyes.

"You don't know if I've noticed?" Gally demands. "The entire shucking Glade is split right down the shucking middle because of the two of you!"

With that being said, Gally shoved me forward into the Kitchens.

"Bloody slinthead," I mumble under my breath as I slowly approach Kat, trying my best to be cautious. I make my way to the opposite of where she's sitting that we are staring at one another, but just as I go to speak, she starts.

"Don't waste your breath," Kat mutters as she just looks at me, no emotion in her eyes. I decide that I should do as she says if we're gonna get anywhere, so we end up just sitting there for a few minutes. "Go to sleep, Newt."

"I could very well say the same to you," I mention and she just shrugs her shoulders, completely indifferent to anything I'm saying, which is proven by her taking a drink of alcohol. "Kat, you need rest."

"Why?" Kat asks as she shakes the bottle, only to find it empty. She tries setting it down on the table, but it accidentally falls off and crashes down to the floor.

"Because you look exhausted. I don't know how much you've slept but it doesn't look like much and with the amount of alcohol you've been drinking, you've got to have a massive headache," I state and once again, receive only a shrug in response. "Damn it, Kat! I'm trying to bloody help you!"

"None of it matters, Newt," Kat mentions sadly as she glances over at the East Door.

"The Maze?" I follow her gaze, something extremely terrible must've happened in order to make her act like this. "What did you see?"

"What's the point? We're never making it out of here anyway," Kat mumbles as a few tears slip outta her eyes. This whole time, she's insisted on running herself to the point of exhaustion to get us out of here.

"This isn't the Kat I know. The Kat that I know, doesn't take no for an answer, when she gets pushed down she gets back up!" I say as I move right next to her. But what I say only has her stand up and glare at me.

"Am I not allowed to have a day to myself?" Kat demands and this makes me angry.

"I tried getting you to take a day off! That's what led to this!" I argue. "The Kat I know likes to keep up a strong appearance! This isn't who you are!"

"I don't know who I am!" Kat insists, her rage not calming down. "And neither do you!"

"Why are you saying things like this? What's gotten into you?" I demand and she just glares at me as she slumps down onto the bench.

"I don't need you to analyze me, Newt..." Kat mumbles as she looks back towards the Maze.

"Well too bad! You need help and I am giving it to you, whether you like it or not," I sit down next to he and take her hand. Surprisingly, she doesn't rip her hand out of mine. "Now tell me what happened."

For a moment, I think she's going to tell me. She hesitates and looks me in the eyes.

"No."

"No?"

"No," Kat confirms, her eyes hardening to show that she will defend her decision, no matter what.

"Kat! You're being a bloody stubborn shank!"

"You're the one who won't leave me alone!"

"Because I'm trying to help you!

"It's all just a trick!" Kat shouts and that stops me right in my tracks.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" I ask quietly and all Kat does is pace back and forth, tears starting to fall down her face.

"I figured it out," Kat mumbles softly and I look out at the Maze. "And it's all a bloody joke!"

Kat kicks the bottle of moonshine, breaking it into tiny pieces, a part of it piercing her boot; but if she feels it, she isn't showing it. She collapses to the ground, sobs wracking her entire body as she just shivers and cries. I kneel down next to her and pull her into a hug, and she doesn't resist.

Eventually, she's calmed down and falls asleep so I carry her back to her but once again. I don't stay though, I immediately head to the Runners' Hut and start searching for anything. Her trunk has some of her maps, her supply bag is empty and her weapons are in her hut...

It's when I grab the key and head into the supply closet that I find something. Wax paper. Lots of it. Maps have been traced onto them and the thought hits me quickly. She was trying to see that if you overlaid them, something would appear. Everything's still organized into piles. She has her section organized into weeks. I get everything in what I believe is the proper order and flatten the papers out.

There is a message.

GOOD LUCK WCKD

I then take a look at my maps, which she had already sketched up.

WCKD IS GOOD

Minho's maps aren't here. Though the message will probably be the same thing.

"Dude. What are..." I hear Minho say, but his footsteps stop right behind me. "What this?"

"This..." I gesture to all the wax paper around me. "Is why Kat is the way she is."

I flatten out the papers again so that Minho can see the taunting remarks that the Creators left.

"Shuck," Minho mutters as he kneels down next to me. "No wonder she was so distraught. She's always believed that it was there for a reason..."

"And if that was wrong, everything she's worked for since waking up would be for nothing." I finish the thought.

"You should be there when she wakes up," Minho says and I look at him doubtfully.

"Not bloody likely," I murmur as I begin to pickup all the papers.

"You were able to talk her down," Minho argues.

"Yeah, because she was hammered," I say looking down, hoping that he's the right one outta the both of us. "She probably won't remember a thing and nothing will have changed between us."

"You didn't see the way she talked to Alby, he was pissed," Minho counters.

"Well Alby has no tact and is always straight to the point," I mention and Minho looks like he's going to argue. "Look, nothing you bloody say will convince me to go see her."


	12. We Good?

**A/N- I know I did a large time jump last chapter, but I couldn't handle writing about Kat and Newt being so hostile towards each other. Plus Kat was being slightly stubborn and not really doing anything other than running during those three and a half months. Also, a huge thanks to SkyFire617 for being the first person to give me a review!**

 **{Week 22, Day 4}**

I drift in and out of sleep for a long time. A cold breeze blowing through the windows. The sound of hammers and nails ringing through the Glade. The smell of pine and fresh dirt nearby. When I open my eyes, it seems as if nothing is wrong. I'm back home with a family, maybe waking up to read a book or play a game with a little brother or sister, smelling breakfast being cooked by my mother and my father sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee, reading the newspaper.

But I'm brought back to reality by Gally's shouts.

"You little shuckface!" Gally screams and I inwardly cringe. "Next time watch where you're aimin' the shucking hammer!"

Gally is great, he's like an overprotective older brother that I may or may not have ever had, but when he is angry... it's best to just let him be. The smell of breakfast looms in the air, not made by my mother but by Frypan, sometimes it seems like the same thing. I roll my head to the side and, much to my surprise, see Newt.

WCKD IS GOOD

GOOD LUCK WCKD

Some of the memories come back. I remember... drinking. And... okay, maybe the memories aren't coming back.

Wait, I remember talking in the Kitchens. Alby... then Newt. Great, first full conversation in months and I don't remember any of it other than the fact that we talked. I push myself up and grab a blanket, draping over Newt's legs because he's slightly shivering.

But as I'm up, I notice some vast changes in my hut. For starters you can see the walls. And well... that's the only change. But it's a major one! I spot all the maps in a neat pile in the corner of the room, and when I go and pick them up, all the feelings I felt come rushing back.

So I throw them in the fire.

I watch as they slowly burn away, the horrible feeling along with it. And the more that they burn, the more I feel a great weight lifted off my shoulders.

"Kat?" I hear Newt's groggy voice behind me and I turn to see him squinting at me.

"Hi, Newt," I say as I move back and take a seat on my bed.

"How are you feeling?" Newt asks me hesitantly and I just sigh as I look down at my hands.

"Slight headache but... other than that, I'm fine," I mention as I gesture towards the fireplace, where the last of the maps are burning.

"You..." Newt looks at the fireplace in shock.

"Are letting it go?" I ask as I look Newt in the eyes. "I'm going to try."

Newt gives me a small smile as he hands me back my blanket. I fold it in silence and place by my pillow.

"I have to ask..." Newt says I snap my gaze up to meet his. He points just past me, to a nail on the wall that holds my necklace. He must've seen the engraving on the back. "Where... how..."

"It came up with me," I stop him right there, grabbing the necklace off its pin. "I didn't realize that it had been around my neck for about a week. Kinda explains why we can read each other so well..."

"Yeah..." Newt looks down. "I'll let you get some rest."

"Newt?" I call out as he reaches the door.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry," I say and Newt smiles at me, a real smile.

"Me, too," Newt leans against the door frame. "Talk to you later?"

"Yeah... see you later," I nod before he closes the door. I drop onto my bed, actually going to attempt to get some sleep when my door swings open and Minho strides in.

"Please tell me you two finally kissed," Minho drops on my bed and steals my pillow for himself.

"Kissed?" I splutter out as I stare at him in disbelief. "Min, we've barely spoken more than two words to each other in three and half months. It's gonna take some time."

"Well it's a good thing kissing doesn't require talking," Minho grins at me and I just let myself fall onto my bed.

"You're impossible," I groan as I curl up into a ball.

"I'm impossible?" Minho raises an eyebrow at me. "You and Newtie are ignoring all the sexual tension between the two of you. Which should be impossible but the two of you do it well."

"Minho!" I hit him on the side lightly.

"What? It's true!" Minho insists as we both go quiet. "So the two of you are good now, right?"

"Yeah," I give a small smile. "I think we're good."


	13. Manhunt!

{Week 26, Day 4}

I'm slowly wake up to a soft sound outside my window, so faint I barely notice it's there. The sound continues it soft sound, the rhythm almost lulling me back to sleep. Then like a light going off, I realize what it is.

Rain.

You barely notice that it's never there. There was that one occurrence during the Rebellion but other than that, nothing. It's been almost six months since then.

I open up the door to my hut and stare out into the Glade, just reaching my hand out to cup the water falling from the sky. A sudden rush of joy overcomes me and I go running outside in only my tank tops and shorts with no shoes. I go sprinting over to the Homestead and throw open the door. Running through the maze of hammocks until I find the corner that I used to sleep in.

"Everyone! It's raining!" I shout and immediately hear all the groans as the boys start waking up, and grumbling about it being the middle of the night.

"Wake up, you lazy shank," I shake Newt's hammock and he scrambles up.

"Bloody hell, Kat!" Newt curses under his breath as he tries to not fall out of his hammock.

"Come on, Newt!" I grab his arm and pull him out of his hammock, making him fall flat on his face while I drag the others out of bed. But once a few are up, everyone starts to get upand make their way outside. We all just stare at the night sky.

But, a prankster whose name starts with 'M' and ends with 'INHO' has to ruin the magical moment. This moment ends when I feel a handful of mud plastered on my face. I reach down and scoop up a handful, throwing it back at him and before we know it, everyone is involved in this huge mud fight where it's every man for themselves.

Not too much later, Alby gets everyone quiet and we all think he's gonna order us to get clean and go back to sleep because we have work in the morning, but what he suggests is a million times better.

Manhunt.

Of course that good moment disappeared when Alby pointed at me. The next thing I knew I was sprinting through the woods and climbing a tree. Once I think most of them are past me, I drop down and head back towards the Homestead, maybe up in Medical. They probably won't think to find me there.

But instead of going in, I sit out on the porch just letting the rain run down my face, not wanting to waste this time inside. Who would've thought the feeling of rain would make a group of people so happy. Things get really dull around here and they need things like this once and awhile. Maybe the weekend between the Greenbean Party and Fight Night we can do Manhunt, that way people have something to look forward to each week. But as bad as things can get here, there are still some good things about it. Moments like this. Bonfires. Newt. I've got a bunch of big, overprotective brothers. Newt.

Newt. His messy hair that is always sticking everywhere. The look in his gorgeous brown eyes when he smiles. His accent that just makes me want to swoon. He knows me.

"Got ya," I hear said accent whisper in my ear and I take off running, but between the mud and no shoes, Newt quickly tackles me down in the mud. We play around for awhile, rolling through the mud, trying to see who'll come out victorious.

As skinny as Newt is, he is still very strong and muscular from all these months running. And while he doesn't look as muscular as Alby, it looks good on him. Amazingly good.

"I win," Newt grins down at me as he comes out on top, holding himself above me with his elbows.

"Ya sure 'bout that?" I ask playfully as I grab a handful of mud and smear it all over his face and hair, causes him to splutter and release his grip on me.

But of course as soon as I stand up, I step in a patch of mud and fall flat on my face. I'm laughing as I try standing up again, and the next thing I know I've been tackled by Newt once again and we're sprawled out in the mud.

This time, Newt makes sure to hold my arms down as he smirks down at me, a smile breaking out to reveal mud all over his teeth, earning a lot of laughter from me. His normally blonde hair is smeared brown, matching his eyes.

"I..." I go to say something, but lose any thoughts as I notice that Newt has just been staring down into my eyes.

Without warning, Newt lowers his head down and kisses me, making the entire world fade away. As we kiss, my hands make their way into his hair and his are currently behind my neck and back, pulling me closer.

But then Newt suddenly breaks away.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Newt asks, hesitation written all over his face and I just laugh and roll my eyes before grabbing his shirt and pulling his back down for another kiss. And the only reason we stopped, was the rain stopping almost immediately. It was pouring one minute and then normal the next.

"That's strange," I mutter as I look around, eventually my gaze falling upon Newt again.

"Me or the rain?"

"Newt, shut the bloody hell up and kiss me," I mutter and to my happiness, Newt obliges immediately.

 **A/N- so the plan was to keep this posted on the side and the only hint that you guys were gonna get about Newt and Kat being together would be him helping her back to her hut and giving her a quick kiss, but thanks to SkyFire617's awesome review, I decided I would post it with the rest of the story. Hope you like it!**


	14. Day Off

**{Week 27, Day 1}**

Duck and roll. I come up to my feet to see both Ben and Dan, one of Gally's builders, trying to circle me. Ben keeps himself in front while Dan tries to get around back to keep me turning in circles. Ben goes to punch me, I use my left arm to block and send my right fist flying into his gut; hearing Dan coming up behind me, I lash out with my right leg into Dan's knee, I then backhand him in the face with my right hand before sending it back into Ben's face. I then add my right hand to my left and use all my strength to throw Ben to the ground. But while I was finishing Ben off, Dan got up and when I turned around, I came face to face with his fist.

Because of my small frame, I'm dropped to the ground immediately. I rely on speed and agility because almost all of these boys are about twice my size and have roughly three times the strength. I stay down and let Dan get overconfident, he comes over to finish me off and I swing out with my legs, he falls onto his back and I flip over and punch him in the gut as hard as I can. I glance over and see Ben standing off to the side, he must've stayed down for the whole ten seconds. I stand up and glance back down at Dan, who seems to be to trying to get back up. I put my foot on his hand and he turns his head so he can see me, I just shake my head in a 'no' and he just lets his body fall back to the ground.

"10!" Alby's shout has everyone cheering. Before I know it scooped up onto someone's shoulders and the feel of hair that uses hair products lets me know it's Minho. Newt hands me up a jar of moonshine.

"To Kat!" Newt shouts and everyone shuts up as we all take a drink.

"In about fifteen minutes, we will finish the night with The Fight!" Alby shouts as he raises my arm and Gally's arm up and everyone starts cheering. The Ring starts to slowly empty until it's just me and Gally. I grab my shirt from the side and use it to dab up the blood on my face before pulling it over my head.

"You're going down, K," Gally smiles at me as he takes leans in and takes at look at my eye, which is slightly blurry. "You might wanna get that looked at..."

"Yeah, I would hate to beat you with an eye swollen shut, it would ruin you forever!" I jest as I'm suddenly thrown over someone's shoulder. "Hey!"

"Victory parade time!" I hear Minho say as he begins to turn around in circles.

"Min!" I shout as I begin to get dizzy, but he doesn't slow down. "Minho! I think you're hair is messed up!"

"What?" Minho drops me flat on my ass, his hands feeling through his hair. "Where?"

"Right there," I lie as I point to a spot on the back of his head. "Min, it is in desperate need of some hairspray!"

"I'll be back in a few minutes!" Minho promises as he takes off sprinting for the Homestead, where he keeps all his hair products stashed by his bed.

"Nice one!" Newt grabs my shoulder to steady me, the both of us laughing our heads off.

"Thanks," I laugh as I stumble, either from the spinning or from the amount of alcohol I've consumed, towards the nearby log to sit down on. Of course, I trip and we end up leaning against the log. But once we've sat down, all my energy drops. "Hey, Newt?"

"Yeah?"

"How do I look?" I ask and I seem to catch Newt off guard, even though I'm just wondering how badly my eye is swollen.

"Well, you... um... have blue eyes and... blonde hair... you're very... you're..." Newt stutters slightly and I just raise my eyebrows. While I do find it interesting that my eyes are blue and that Newt is clearly getting flustered, it's not exactly what I was asking.

"Newt, I was..."

"Lovebirds! Let Uncle Minho in," I feel Minho's hand on my shoulder, pushing me away from Newt and draping his arms around our shoulders. "I fixed my hair!"

"Uncle? There something I don't know?" I ask with a glance at Newt, both of us rolling our eyes at Minho's antics.

"I'm sorry, Kat. Minho and I have something to tell you," Newt sighs, looking at the ground, causing me to just laugh.

"Our child shall have your beautiful accent, darling Newt!" Minho says dramatically and the three of us are laughing our heads off, plus I can agree that Newt's voice is gorgeous.

"Here she is!" Alby's voice makes us slow down our laughter. Alby has the new Greenie, Tony, I think, right behind him. "And these three make up the 3 Stooges."

"I don't see it guys," I sigh as our nickname is mentioned.

"Me either," Minho huffs.

"You've got Newt, my 2nd in command, also one of Kat's Runners," Alby ignores everything we said with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey there, Greenie," Newt nods at the kid.

"And you already saw Kat, aka Queen of the Glade, show off her expertise in the ring," Alby says and I just wave at Greenbean with a smile. "She's 3rd in command and Keeper of the Runners. And then you have Minho, one of Kat's Runners."

"Uncle Minho," Minho corrects Alby, looking very serious as he just nods at Alby, almost in confirmation.

"Something I don't know about?" Alby narrows his eyes at Newt and I, and when we glance at each other, I see Newt start to turn bright red.

"Minho and Newt are having a child," I pretend to sniffle, bringing a smile to my face, but I can't keep it. The three of us burst into laughter, leaving both Alby and Greenbean staring at us like we're insane.

"Hence the name, the 3 Stooges," Alby glances at Greenbean who just nods quickly. "It may not seem like it, but these three shanks are some of the best we have."

"We can be professional," Newt shakes his head

"We just choose not to," I add on and Minho takes over.

"Because this is just so much more fun," Minho finishes and we all just grin.

"How long did you slintheads have to rehearse that?" Alby raises an eyebrow and we just look at each other, we came up with that on the spot and finished each toe hrs sentences. "Anyways. Once your fight is over, will you take the Greenie to the Hut?"

"Sure thing Albs," I nod my head as Clint and Jeff comes up to me.

"Let me check out your eye before your next fight starts," Clint says and I push myself up, ready to get ready. This fight is never easy.

"Wait! But we were having a conversation!" Minho looks like I killed Bark.

"No, Newt and I were having a conversation until you shoved your butt between us," I say with a smile and Minho just grins.

"But it's a lovely butt," Minho compliments himself and I just laugh as I turn around.

"Please excuse Minho, Greenbean, he's slightly delusional," I mention, Greenbean's eyes still wide and if possible, they get wider.

"Newt! Darling! Our baby is going to have my gorgeous hair and your beautiful eyes!" Minho says dramatically before his eyes widen. "Guys! I'm gonna run out of hair product before the next shipment arrives! I only have half a bottle left and they forgot to send some up today!"

"Oh then we're through, Minho! I can't be with you without your hair product," Newt stands up and joins me by Clint and Jeff.

"Newt! Don't leave me!" Minho holds his hand out, Alby just rolls his eyes and interrupts our banter.

"Slim it! You're scaring the Greenie!" Alby says before turning to me. "Give him hell."

"No problem," I grin as I turn and follow Clint over to the table and chairs he always has set up for Fight Night or Greenbean parties. Unfortunately, I didn't perform well enough to avoid it tonight.

"When the last time we had the pleasure of seeing you here, Kat?" Clint grins at me as I take a seat.

"I believe it was only two weeks ago, Clint, at the Fight Night," Jeff grins at me. "And didn't we see once only two weeks before that at the last Greenie party?"

"I believe you did," Newt sits down on the table. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's making a habit of getting her ass handed to her."

"I'd say you don't know any better," I fake glare at Newt. "I'm doing perfectly fine in these fights."

"But normally the only person who can hit you is Gally," Clint counters and I turn the look of shock to him. "You're going into this fight at more of a disadvantage than you normally do."

"I don't see how you're gonna beat Gally like this, your face looks like a piece of klunk," Jeff mentions as Clint shines a light over at my right eye, but I don't see anything. I send the playful glare in his direction.

"All ye of little faith," I say and when I spot Gally walking by I shout. "That shank is just a big brute."

"And Kat's a little overconfident slinthead," Gally smirks at me as he takes a drink of water.

"I can be confident, my record against you proves it," I retort as I tart counting my fingers. "What's the record again? 9-3?"

"Previous matches don't matter, not once we step in that ring," Gally states before heading off to his side of the ring.

"Kat, your bloody eyeball is swollen shut," Newt states and I just smirk.

"Really? I had no idea!" I smile at him and he just rolls his eyes.

"No one would think any less of you if you didn't fight," Newt puts forward and I look at him in doubt. Even if they wouldn't think less of me, I'm not one to step down from a fight. Especially when it's the fight that we always finish the night off with and when all the major bets are taken. And this all stems back to that damn argument that had Newt and I not speaking to each other in the first place. I have this need to prove that I'm no weaker than any of the boys and I will do almost anything to make sure that they will continue to think of me as an equal.

"There ya go," I hear as I feel a piece of tape get placed on my forehead. "And remember, I have extra desserts for a week on you with Frypan, so don't lose."

"Gotcha, Clint," I smile as I pop up, ignoring Newt's look of doubt as he stares at the makeshift eyepatch that is now covering my eye. I take my spot on my side of the ring and pull off my bloody shirt.

"Hey, Kat?" I hear Newt call out and I turn to face him. "Kick his bloody ass."

I just grin as I just drop the shirt on the side and loosen my arms up a bit, those shirts restrict my arm movement so much, I've taken to fighting without one on. Plus, I'm gonna need all the help I can get to take Gally down with only one eye.

"Don't think I'm gonna fall for any of your tricks and go easy on you, K," Gally is the first to speak as we circle the edge of the ring.

"I'd be disappointed if you did," I say in response, all the Gladers breaking a slight laugh, the two of us continue to circle, both testing to see who'll jump first. The Gladers are completely silent, all too entranced in the fight to make any noise. At least for now, once the fighting actually starts though... Then I'm going to be severally crippled. I won't be able to see out of one eye and Gally will definitely try to get in my blind spot, but I'm going to be using my hearing to make up for my eye and once the noise starts...

Gally rushes forward suddenly and I'm forced to roll out of the way, but Gally doesn't stay back like he normally does; he keeps rushing me, knowing he has the advantage this fight. I keep trying to counter his attacks but he keeps cutting them off and I'm forced to just parry his punches and keep moving backwards.

I keep trying to come up with a plan, find something, anything, that I can work to my advantage. But Gally finally lands a punch in my gut and then strikes me across the jaw, luckily on my bad side. I fall to the ground and a thought comes to mind. I grab a handful of sand in my hand that he can clearly see, and when I push myself up, I make it look like I'm just pushing myself up but I'm actually grabbing another handful of sand. I throw the sand that he clearly saw me grab, but as expected, he closes his eyes.

"Did you seriously think I'd..." Gally begins to taunt, opening his eyes to another handful of sand. I use his moment of pain to rush forward and punch him in the gut and in the jaw and when he goes to swing at me in blind rage, I duck underneath his swing and punch him in the back before kicking the back of his knee. I step on his back as I grab his arms and pull them upwards with all my strength, praying that I can keep him down for the ten seconds. But barely five seconds in, he outmuscled me and threw me off to the side, rolling into the edge of the Gladers.

"I've got a two week bet with Winston on cleaning the klunk outta the animal pens! You gotta beat Gally!" I hear a Slicer, Pierce, tell me as I struggle to push myself to my feet. I glance over at Gally to see him struggling to get to his feet as well.

"What ya gonna do now that you're out of tricks?" Gally asks, his eyes bright red from the sand.

"I'm sure I'll think of something," I shrug as we stand up and catch our breath. This time, I'm the first to throw the first punch, but I'm quickly driven back on the defensive side. I think everything's over when Gally catches my left arm, but I don't think and my body just acts. I grip his arm and jump up and flip myself over Gally, using my momentum to pull him over me and send him flying onto his back. The landing was so hard everyone could hear the thump. I stumble off to the side and sit down, not caring if Gally gets back up and finishes the match.

But he doesn't get up and by the time Alby is almost finished counting, I push myself back onto my feet, spitting out a little blood as I do. I head over to Gally and sit down next to him. He looks at me with approval as he just groans.

"You won... this time," Gally whispers out as he just lays on the ground. "I'll get you next time."

Silence.

Everyone just stares at the two of us as we just sit in the middle of the ring, neither one of us feeling like moving. Soon I lose what energy I have left and I just lay on the ground next to Gally. Then everyone slowly starts clapping as Clint and Jeff push their way through the crowd to get to us.

"You get Gally," Clint tells Jeff as he kneels down beside me. I attempt a smile at my old bunk mate, but it must turn out to be a grimace. "You look like a piece of klunk."

"Thanks..." I groan as he wraps up my swollen ankle with a pain salve. "You always tell me the nicest stuff, Clint."

"Night's over! Everyone to bed!" Alby shouts and everyone grumbles but eventually disperse. Only a few of our friends remain.

"When you gonna stop letting yourself get your ass handed to you?" Winston playfully demands as he fake glares at Gally. "I lost a bet to Pierce and now I'm cleaning the klunk outta the pig pens for two shucking weeks. Two!"

"Hey! I didn't go down without a fight!" Gally protests as he points at my face, which probably looks black and purple everywhere. "And she comes up with the most devious stuff!"

"It's called thinking outside the box, Gally," I groan as Clint just pops a finger back into place, one that I didn't even know was out of place. "I can't beat you without it... I'm too small."

CRACK!

Gally's muffled groan of pain is heard a few seconds later. Everyone turns to see Jeff pulling his now relocated elbow into a sling.

"And this is why we shouldn't allow the two of you to fight," Alby sighs and everyone stares at him like he's lost his mind.

"Not bloody likely, those shanks work so hard to see this fight," Newt points behind him towards the rest of the Gladers. I'm just surprised that he's actually agreeing that I should put myself in more potential 'danger.' "You cancel it, you'll have a bloody riot on your hands."

"They both need the next few days away from work," Clint adds on and Alby just groans.

"I'm gonna have a damn riot because they won't be working and the others will."

"Well, I can work on maps," I put forward, actually really grateful for an excuse to not run the Maze.

"You both'll deal with the Greenbean," Alby concludes and Gally looks at him in horror.

"Greenie duty? What?" Gally looks afraid for his life. "No, no, no. I'm sure Kat can deal with him, right Kat?"

"Actually, I'm not sure I can," I smirk at Gally and he just glares at me. "This is payback for landing a hit on me."

"No!" Gally looks back at Alby in desperation. But he doesn't budge and everyone else is busy laughing at Gally's fear of showing the Greenie around. "I hate you all."

"I've done all I can," Clint stand up and I glance down, seeing both my hands heavily bandaged along with my left ankle and most of my arms covered in bruises.

"I need you to take a look at this," Jeff says and I watch as he points to something on Gally.

"Oh! Broken rib, Gally. Impressive, Kat..." Client takes his place by Jeff.

"Thanks," I grumble as I take Newt's hand and he pulls me up. "Ow..."

"Remember to take it easy, Kat!" Clint calls after me as I lean heavily on Newt as we begin walking towards my hut.

"Battle a Griever? No problem!" I call back, earning a few chuckles from some people. "Night, everyone."

Everyone mumbles their goodnight and Newt helps me all the way to my bed. Getting me some water and even grabbing me a new shirt so I don't have to sleep in my one covered in blood. Without speaking, Newt helps me pull the new shirt over my body. It's overly baggy and luckily doesn't bother my bruises or my scrapes.

"Goodnight, love," Newt smiles as he gives me a quick peck on the lips before he goes to head to the door.

"Newt?" I call out as he starts to walk away.

"Yeah?" Newt sits down on the edge of my bed and I just pull him in for a soft kiss before hugging him tightly. "You okay?"

"I probably won't see you until tomorrow night," I say softly as lean my forehead against his. "Be safe tomorrow."

"That's my line," Newt grins as I just laugh softly. "Always."


	15. The Tour

**{Week 27, Day 2}**

"We're gonna start out by getting breakfast," I lead Greenbean towards the Kitches. "Then I'm gonna... Greenbean! Pay attention!"

"Oh, sorry!" Greenbean stutters as he shifts his gaze from where Gally is sitting, the bruises all over his body showing for everyone to see since he's shirtless.

"Like I said, we'll grab some breakfast before taking you over to the Hut. Then you'll go to Winston," I explain as we get in line for breakfast, which is so weird considering I get up early enough to eat before anyone else is up. "He'll walk you through being a Slicer. He'll release you for a half an hour lunch. You'll work until dinner and then have the rest of the night off."

"What?" Greenbean looks completely lost as we make it to the front of the line.

"Kat, I owe Winston my desserts for a shuckin' week cuz of you..." Frypan grumbles as he hands the Greenbean a plate of food, handing me my normal blueberry muffin. I give him a pouty face. "No."

"Please!" I bat my eyes and give him a smile. "You're my favorite cook ever, Fry..."

"I'm the only cook you've ever known," Frypan grumbles as he grabs a napkin and hands me some bacon and gives me a glass of what little precious apple juice we have.

"Thank you, Fry!" I smile as I lead Greenbean to the table where Gally's sitting. "How ya feeling, Gal?"

"Slim it, shuckface," Gally seethes as me and I just grin.

"I think someone's a little bitter today, Greenie," I say as I take a bite of my muffin.

"Because of you, I'm stuck on Greenie duty," Gally sends a glare at Greenbean, who just gulps nervously.

"It's not that bad. We just gotta pick him up from his job and make sure he doesn't get himself killed while wandering. If he gets killed during a job, that's not our fault," I mention and I spot a stream of water comes flying out of Greenbean's mouth and into Gally. I immediately burst out laughing, Gally looks like a volcano about to erupt, and Greenbean looks like he's about to hyperventilate.

"I hate you," Gally glares at me, not even looking at Greenbean.

"Love you, too, Gal," I smile as I happily munch on my muffin. "Greenbean, if you want to last the night, I'd suggest getting your new buddy a towel."

Greenie says nothing as he nods his head so quickly that I fear it might fall off. He gets up and starts wandering away towards the Homestead, instead of thinking of borrowing one from Frypan.

"Yo," Jeff plops himself down next to me. "How you... what the shuck happened to you?"

"Kat," Gally growls and I just give him a wide smile before directing my attention to Jeff.

"Greenbean spewed everywhere when I was joking about him dying while finding a job and how it wouldn't be mine and G's fault," I shrug and Jeff bursts into laughter.

"Oh, Clint said that I was to tell you shanks to take it easy today," Jeff mentions. "Meaning no running, lifting, climbing..."

"So... we can walk?" Gally glances at me. "That what I'm hearing."

"Sounds about right," I nod.

"I hate you," Gally grumbles as Greenbean comes back up to him with a towel, which Gally snatches out of his hands and starts to wipe the water off.

"So you've mentioned," I shrug it off, a smirk coming to my face. "You can always resign next time. I might accept it..."

"In your dreams," Gally growls and Jeff just laughs.

"You two are gonna murder each other," Jeff mentions before standing up. "I'm gonna grab some food. Catch ya later."

"See ya," I call after him as I look over to see Greenbean staring at his food. "Hurry up! We haven't got all day!"

"I'm not hungry," Greenbean mentions and I just roll my eyes.

"I was joking when I said there was danger of dying while finding a job," I mention and he just shrugs. "Look, you're going to need your strength. There's a reason everyone around here is really buff, these jobs require a lot physically."

"You think everyone here is buff?" Gally raises an eyebrow at me. "These bunch of sissies?"

"Gal, you a big, strong guy with a ton of muscles," I mention before gesturing at my body, "I am tiny, thin, and whole head shorter than Newt, who is a few inches shorter than the next shortest person. So yes, everyone here seems much bigger to me."

"Then how can you beat them in the ring?" Greenbean asks, one of his first normal sentences that I've heard. "You should be getting demolished by them."

"Not everything is about strength," I say in a slightly scolding, disapproving tone. "Speed. Agility. If they can't hit you, they can't beat you."

"That's why when she does get hit, she takes a nasty fall," Gally remarks and I nod.

"Exactly. Now, grab a bagel or something that you'll be able to keep down. We need to get moving," I say as I grab mine and Gally's plates and cups. I take them back up while Greenbean grabs a plain bagel and meets me back by Gally, who has just managed to stand up.

"Where we going?" Greenbean questions as I start leading us towards the woods.

"We are heading to the Runners' Hut. Normally only Runners are allowed in inside, but Gladers are allowed in under supervision by a Runner," I comment as we quickly make it to the bridge that Gally had built at some point before I figured out the messages. Kinda glad, I was so drunk I would've fallen into the river otherwise. "I'm warning you now, it smells like an abandoned copper mine."

I open the door and lead them inside. Closing up Ben's trunk and straightening the room up a little bit; I'm not here one morning and it looks like a tornado came through here. I'll have to speak to them about this later. Especially Adam, this is the third time in the past five weeks I've had to put away the knife sharpener.

"I assume that by now you've that out there is the Maze?" I ask, opening up the curtains that block the window, and Greenie just nods. "Well, each morning my Runners and I head out there to map it because the walls are already shifting."

"But there's more than just the Maze keeping us here," Gally speaks up and I just nod.

"The sounds you heard last night? Those belong to a creature that we call a Griever," I say as I turn around and look through the window. "You shouldn't see one right now. Most of the time the patrol the Maze during the night, but sometimes they come out during the day."

"My Runners are good, only the best of the best become Runners, but there's nothing we can do against a Griever. That's why those Doors close every night. To protect us."

"Has anyone ever been caught out there?" Greenbean asks and I just sigh.

"Yes. The next morning when the Doors open, we always wait to see if this time is any different, but all we get are the bloody remains that are left after the Grievers are finished with them. That's why only volunteers go out there, they have to go through training by me, and then they have my approval, they have to be approved to go out there by the Keepers."

Clink! Clink! Clunk! Clink! Clink! Clunk!

Everything drains from me as I hear the horrible sounds of a Griever on the other side of the window. I slowly turn around and see the creature making its way past the window, the sound of it's metal legs echoing off the walls. As it reaches the middle of the window, the Griever seems to realize that we are watching it; it slams one of its legs into the window, again and again and again. The glass doesn't break, just waver back and forth. The Griever seems to get the idea that it's not going to get to us and it just continues down its path. I make my way to the edge of the window and press my face against it, trying to keep the Griever in my sights.

"They're gonna be fine, Kat," Gally says seriously and I turn and look at him.

"I know they will... they're smart and fast. And they should be well into the outer edges by now," I mumble, mostly to myself. "Focus, Kat... Rules."

"There's 3 rules in the Glade," Gally takes over, nodding at me and I give him a tight smile in return, returning back to the glass.

I briefly hear Gally talking about the different rules—never leave the Glade, do your part, and never harm another Glader—and the two punishments. Not much was said about the Slammer but there was a lot of complaining about Banishment after seeing a Griever, but he has to understand that is used in only worst case scenarios. I don't know how long he's there explaining things, but Gally comes up to me and tells me that we need to get Greenbean to Winston. I turn away from the window and get ready to leave, only stopping when Greenbean speaks up.

"What's that?" Greenbean points past me and there's a small blip moving slowly, but it keeps getting larger and larger. It's one of my Runners. Limping.


	16. The Runner

Eventually, the boy collapses down to the ground and I'm left speechless as he doesn't get up. A whole flurry of emotions run through me as I grab my machete off the wall and pull on my leather armor.

"Gally, you stay right here and let me know if he moves by the time I make it to the other side. Tony, go find Clint and tell him that a Runner was badly injured and that I'm going to retrieve him."

"But..." Greenbean goes to protest.

"Now!" I scream at him and he runs out the door, me not far behind him. I sprint over to the West Door and begin to run the quickest way to the outside of the window. Despite running as fast as I can, it doesn't seem fast enough. I quickly make it to the other side and Gally looks extremely relieved to see me.

I look down the corridor to see my Runner still laying there. I sprint over and before I can do anything, I see the Sting mark on his upper back, his blond hair tinged with blood.

I roll my Runner over to see Adam's face staring up at me. Luckily, he still has a pulse and he doesn't seem to be badly injured other than a twisted ankle and the Griever sting on his shoulder. I pull Adam up and begin to pull him back towards the Glade, it's slow going and luckily for me, Adam wakes up as I make it to the window.

"No... no... no..." Adam groans as he falls out of my grasp. He rolls over onto his back and opens his eyes to see my gasping for breath. "Kat? What... how..."

I point at the window, where Gally is looking nervously between us and the corridors surrounding us. Without speaking, I offer Adam a hand up.

"Of all the days to forget a lunch... I've been stung, Kat," Adam groans as he sits up against a wall. "You need to get back."

"I'm not losing you, Adam," I say softly as I catch my breath. "I will get you back and I will get you the Grief Serum and you will be alright."

"Just leave me," Adam's voice gets extremely quiet as I just look him in the eyes.

"I'm not leaving without you, Adam," I say quietly, offering him a hand up again. But this time he takes it. I give Gally a nod as we leave, saying we'll be alright. This time, with me just supporting Adam's body weight instead of carrying him, we move much faster and we see the West Door in no time.

Clint and Jeff are already there with a stretcher. By him are Alby and Gally. As soon as I turn the corner, Clint and Jeff run out to help me, it's not like the Doors are closing anytime soon. They get him on the stretcher and run back towards the Glade, leaving me to catch up.

When I cross the threshold of the Glade, Alby pulls me into a hug before getting extremely angry.

"What the shuck were you thinking?" Alby demands and I'm actually slightly confused. It's not like I'm not a Runner. "Gally told me how you were barely able to move him! How were you planning on getting him back here if he didn't wake up?"

"I wasn't going to just leave him there!"

"You should've had someone else do it!"

"There is no one else! All the other Runners are out since I'm not allowed to be doing my job! I couldn't waste time waiting for someone to get back! I'm the only one who knew how to get there! Gally wouldn't have been able to help me and there's no way in hell I'd take the Greenie with me!"

"You should've come and got me! Or Zart! Someone!"

"That would've taken too long! I wasn't going to risk the Griever we spotted circling back around!"

"It's not even about how you're injured, Kat! You broke one of our rules!"

"I'm a bloody Runner! I'm allowed to break the first rule! I do it on an everyday basis!"

"You aren't cleared to be a Runner right now! Meaning the first rule does apply to you!"

"What are you gonna do? Throw me in the Slammer?" I demand, fully pissed off now. "For going out there and saving one of the people under my command? Then be my guest!"

I storm off after that comment, or at least I try to. It wasn't as fast of an exit as I thought it would be, but I still think I got the point across. I immediately head for the Homestead, heading upstairs and into Medical.

I take a seat on the chair next to Adam's bed, Jeff coming up to me and looking at the blood stain on my shirt.

"You tore your stitches," Jeff mumbles and I just nod as he gets to work, pulling up the previous stitches and sewing it back up again. While he does this, Clint brings the Grief Serum over and injects it into Adam.

Clint doesn't say anything, he just puts his hand on my shoulder reassuringly. He may not be happy that I hurt myself getting Adam, but he understands that there's no shucking way I'd let something as insignificant as pain or danger stop me from protecting my brothers.

"You should get some rest, Kat," Jeff says as he points to the bed on the other side of the room.

I let him help me up and guide me to the other side, where I lay down and immediately fall asleep.


	17. The Banishing

"What the shuck happened?" I hear a shout as the door bangs open, making me bolt upright in my bed. I glance over and see every single one of my Runners and Hawke shuffling into the room. I give Hawke and a strained smile and he just grits his teeth. He may not want to stir up bad memories, but Adam was his friend.

I glance over at Adam and see him tossing and turning in his restraints, his entire body drenched in sweat. I pull myself out of bed and back into the seat by his side, grabbing the bowl of water and rag. I wipe at Adam's forehead as I feel everyone gather behind me. They all remain silent as I turn around and look them all in the eyes, one at a time.

"Earlier while I was in the Runners' Hut, I spotted a Griever and maybe half an hour later, I saw Adam collapse in the corridor. He had been stung," I say and Newt must've spotted my re-bandaged side.

"You're hurt!" Newt is by my side instantly and checking the rest of my body for injuries.

"I'm fine," I say softly as I take his hand in mine, not caring that everyone else can see. It was me who had reservations about making our relationship public, so Newt doesn't protest when I drop my head on his shoulder. "It reopened when I was trying to carry Adam back, luckily he woke up and I just had to support him."

"You should've gotten someone else to help you," Ben sits on the edge of Adam's bed, glancing my direction.

"That is the last thing I need, I already got chewed out by Alby for that," I grumble as I take another glance at Adam. Despite the Grief Serum, he doesn't seem to be getting any better.

"How long has it been?" Minho glances at Adam and I just sigh.

"After breakfast, we were about to take Greenbean to Winston," I mention as I pull out my watch. 2028. It's been almost 12 hours.

"And he still looks like this?" Hawke speaks up. "You guys said I looked better almost immediately."

"I'm sure he'll be better by morning. We should let him rest," I say as I stand up, looking away from my shivering friend. Without saying another word I walk out of the Homestead and out into the cold, night air. The Doors are already closed; some people have already finished work and are just chilling around, some are finishing up the last of their jobs.

I find my way to the log by the fighting ring and sit down, leaving against it as I just watch Neil and Vince throw a football back and forth; the wind blowing and making me shiver slightly. But then a warm flannel button up is laid over my arms and Newt sits down next to me, not saying anything as he just takes me hand in his.

"Do you think we should stop?" I ask softly as I grip his hand. "If there was a way out, we would've found it. The only reason I wanted us to continue mapping out the Maze was so that everyone else would believe we still had a chance of making it out of here."

"Adam is going to be fine, he got the Grief Serum," Newt tries to reassure me but it doesn't quite work.

"Hawke was right, he did get better almost immediately," I argue as I let Newt wrap his arm around my shoulder and pull me close. "I don't know, something just seems wrong."

"You think the Creators are throwing another stone at us?" Newt asks and I just shrug.

"We can't know anything for sure, not with these Creators," I whisper. "They let us settle into a rotation and then they always change things up."

"Either way, you should get some rest, love," Newt whispers and I just nod, choosing to just lay my head down right there on his shoulder.

-x-

 **{Week 27, Day 3}**

I wake up the next morning to the sound of the Doors opening; but instead of being outside where I feel asleep, I'm underneath the blanket on my cot. I lay there for a few minutes, enjoying the feeling of sleeping in. But it doesn't last, slowly thoughts of Adam start popping up in my mind and I force myself out of bed to go see him.

What I find doesn't comfort me.

Adam is completely still, the opposite of what happened to Hawke when he went through his Changing. Hawke was constantly convulsing and screaming about something called the Flare? After he got over it, he wasn't the same. He was no longer fit to be a Runner, both mentally and physically. That's when I started training Blaze, he had expressed interest in becoming a Runner and we needed the extra man.

But what catches my eye, is all the black stained tissues. Especially when I can see the things coming from out of his nose and a small stream of black is falling out of his ear. I quickly wipe it up before looking at it closely. It looks just like the slime that was around the Sting mark itself. I lean forward and lift up Adam's shirt, shrinking back in surprise at what I found.

It was spreading. There was a black... vein making its way up Adam's chest. I run out of the room and run around the Glade looking for Clint.

"Kat! No running!" Clint sees me before I see him. I sprint up to him and he just rolls his eyes. "Kat, if I have to shucking stitch you..."

"Something's happening to Adam!" I insist and his eyes widen and he joins me in running back to the Homestead. "Look under his shirt!"

Clint just looks back and forth between myself and Adam before hesitantly picking up the edge of Adam's loose shirt.

"What the shuck?" Clint curses loudly, which is very strange for him. "How long has it been like this?"

"I don't know! I saw the black goo from his ear and nose and thought it looked like the edges of the wound! And I found that!" I explain quickly as I pace back and forth behind Clint.

"I don't know what I can do for him, Kat," Clint says softly a few minutes later. I stop my pacing and just stare at him.

"No..."

"It's spreading towards his head, which is probably why he's been having that black goo come out of his nose and ears," Clint sighs as he leans back in the chair.

"Will he live?"

"I have no idea."

-x-

 **{Week 27, Day 6}**

He kept getting worse with each day. The vein kept spreading and eventually he woke up, picking out globs of black goo. And when he was awake, he wasn't Adam. It was like he was possessed. We eventually had to move him to the Slammer because Medical seemed unable to hold him. Minho, Graham, and Blaze had a real struggle getting him to move. Adam flailed against everything, even ended up raking Minho across the forearm, leaving some nice claw marks. Clint even quarantined Minho for a day, fearing that whatever was wrong with Adam could affect Minho as well. Luckily, Minho was still his sarcastic self the next day... maybe unluckily for some people.

I don't know how many hours I spent sitting outside the Slammer, looking at Adam and only seeing the creature that he has become. The thing that continually strains against the bars of the windows to get to me, almost as if I'm his next meal. That's when I know what I have to do. The best thing for my friend, my Runner, my brother.

1845 rolls around and everyone is gathered by the East Door. Minho and I go to the Slammer and tie Adam up by his feet and arms, gagging him so he doesn't get any ideas about biting us.

But as we make our way towards the Gladers, he begins to fight us less and less. As we make it next to the threshold of the Maze, Adam is calm for the first time in days. He collapses to his knees and stares out into the Maze. I stand off to the side by the entrance while Minho takes his spot by Newt.

"Adam of the Runners," I call out and his gaze shoots to meet mine, and I almost want to cry. It's like a tiny bit of Adam is still left in him. "As Keeper of the Runners, I declare you Banished."

If I didn't stay by his side and watch the way he acted, I would say Adam gave me a small smile and slightly nodded his head. That's the only reason I walked forward and cut his restraints, but he doesn't attack me. He struggles to his feet and slowly walks out into the Maze, not even turning around as the Doors begin to close. He makes it to the end of the corridor and looks both ways, and as soon as we see him begin to head right, the Doors close.

Not caring that everyone was watching, I let the tears fall and I just walked straight over to Newt and held him closely, burying my head in his chest as I cried.


	18. Author's Note

I'm sorry that this isn't an update. I haven't been feeling well and haven't quite finished up the latest set of chapters. However they should be finished before the weekend is over.

For those of you who like Harry Potter and Mass Effect fanfiction, my sister and I have been working on several stories together. There should be a Maze Runner one heading up soon, we also have been working on a Dragon Age: Inquisition story that hasn't been put yet, but we're planning on putting it up soon. Her username is CasperAndCrutches.

There is also another Maze Runner fanfiction that I'm currently co-writing with my friend. We have one story up and it under the username flirtasticgladers.

Again, sorry that this isn't an actual update!


	19. Author's Note 2

**Okay so over the past two days I've thought about the last set of chapters I posted and I have come to the conclusion that I'm going to take them down and just start from scratch. There definitely won't be an update this Friday since I'm restarting. I'm sorry! But I just really didn't like them but felt pressured to update and I dont know what happened. Again, sorry! I don't know when my next update will be, hopefully not too long, but I'm definitely going to make sure that I'm happy with what I'm putting out before actually posting it from now on.**

 **In the meantime, you should definitely check out the stories that I'm developing with my sister. We have mostly Harry Potter up right now but there is a Mass Effect. We are working on a Dragon Age: Inquisition, Lord of the Rings, and a few others. We don't have any specific dates planned for those yet. Our username is CasperAndCrutches.**


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